The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

The strategy was simple, but the process was intricate.

Kang-hoo, who had attracted Pisces’ attention at the front, was not the real Kang-hoo but a clone.

If the clone’s movements had been sloppy, Pisces would have realized something was amiss and shifted its focus.

However, Kang-hoo’s coordination, even utilizing the physical abilities of the clone, was flawless.

He was completely deceived.

When Pisces was fully distracted by the clone, Kang-hoo moved laterally to its rear.

He laid a curtain of technique and silently operated the machinery using Mu-yeong.

Caught up in the battle, Pisces had no inkling that another Kang-hoo could be behind it.

Meanwhile, the team members, having deciphered Kang-hoo’s plan, quickly crossed to the opposite side via the lowered drawbridge.

They passed the first gate without unnecessary confrontations with Pisces, all too effortlessly!

The bulky-bodied Pisces could only stomp its feet in frustration on the other side of the bridge.

Once Kang-hoo assessed the situation and joined his team on the bridge, Ma Jinho gave him a thumbs-up.

“I never imagined we could reduce the time so significantly.”

“It’s not like we need to kill him to get the key; just operating the machinery was enough, so I thought a bit.”

Kang-hoo shrugged his shoulders.

Now, he should become accustomed to such tactics.

As they approach higher and top-tier dungeons, passing through conditional paths becomes common.

Gatekeeper Pisces was among the simpler challenges of such tactics.

Some places required the deciphering and arranging of unknown characters.

And in others, certain monsters had to be killed, while others were preserved, to open the way.

Teams that brutishly power through dungeons tend to get phased out around levels 400 and 500.

Simply because they can’t progress.

Ma Jinho bowed again, expressing his gratitude.

“I owe you one.”

“We are a team, after all. I wanted to save our energy, and it worked out well.”

“Clone, rhymes. That was pretty good. We laughed watching you. Did you intend that?”

“Ha, as if.”

It wasn’t intentional, but it seemed to have come off as a dad joke.

Given Kang-hoo’s stern face, one wouldn’t expect him to crack such jokes, but that just made it funnier.

More amusing than an ad-libbing comedian, it’s the ‘funny lines’ from a good-looking celebrity.

Thanks to breezing through what was expected to be a time-consuming section, the speed of their progress increased.

Originally, they planned to subdue Pisces, cross the bridge, then rest.

But they boosted the team’s morale without draining any stamina.

With Kang-hoo playing both the roles of a bleed dealer and a tactical character, expectations were heightened.

“You can start watching now. Their recovery pattern is terrible, so just deal with them.”

“May I assist at will?”

“Would be grateful if you did.”

Kang-hoo could have just watched, but he deliberately joined the battle.

Because chances to face monsters of level 400s aren’t frequent.

He wanted to see firsthand how much his attacks impacted them.

Also, he wished to check the difficulty level. No harm in experiencing it beforehand.

“Haaa!”

Watching Ma Jinho provoke a group of monsters with a loud shout, Kang-hoo looked surprised.

As expected, the range of his taunt pulling monsters was quite extensive.

Had he not been focused, even Kang-hoo might have been drawn into the taunt, such was its influence.

Of course, he didn’t just admire.

Kang-hoo sent shadows, illusions, and clones among the monsters that were not provoked.

Monsters, not being particularly clever, began to gather in small groups upon seeing the uninvited guests who were not their kind.

It was an excellent strategy.

Having clustered the monsters nicely for striking, the archers and wizards unleashed their area attacks.

This resulted in an efficient spectacle where a single attack damaged several monsters evenly.

While the main damage was channeled through Ma Jinho, the residual auxiliary damage was also effectively utilized, thanks to Kang-hoo.

Efficiency: 100%.

Thus, the monster elimination proceeded swiftly.

A wizard, having noticed Kang-hoo’s movements, spoke to the archer and veteran, Kim Ji-hye.

“Sister, have you ever seen anything like this? I’ve never seen an assassin class gathering monsters.”

“Exactly. Usually, they try to hit from behind or look for the right timing for a hit-and-run.”

“That’s what I mean. But with skills like shadows or illusions, he moves aggressively instead.”

“He seems very focused. Whether it’s the illusions, clones, or shadows, none moves sloppily.”

“I see why Cha So-hee died. With such tactics, it would be hard to trace where the real one is.”

“That’s creepy… Having only seen burdensome assassins so far, I’m not used to godly ones.”

“Damn burdensome assassins…”

Burdensome Assassins.

It’s a term for assassins who are more of a burden than an asset.

Referring to assassins who are overly focused on back attacks or stealth attacks, pursuing a passive attack pattern.

In fact, in a group strategy, roles should naturally switch depending on the situation.

But hunters too absorbed in the assassin role focus only on ambushing from unseen places!

This often resulted in them not moving actively until their teammates had set everything up.

This is why there was an aversion to the assassin class in areas below level 200.

Being faithful to the class’s purpose is fine, but excessive rigidity can be frustrating.

However, Kang-hoo was now performing another role on the battlefield, that of a sub-tanker.

Drawing the monsters’ aggro to one place qualifies as ‘provocation,’ a virtue of tankers.

“Good, good! Really good!”

The team members, appreciating Kang-hoo’s efforts, enthusiastically encouraged him and focused more on linking skills.

They initially thought having him as merely a bleed shuttle was sufficient, but a proactive, great mercenary had arrived.

It was truly satisfying from the start.

Afterward, with momentum built in the attack, the party was able to advance to the middle boss section.

Perfectly conserving stamina in the gatekeeper Pisces section had a tremendous butterfly effect.

Moreover, due to Ma Jinho and Kang-hoo’s coordination in the ‘trash mob’ section,

The four main dealers, being mages and archers, could continue hunting comfortably.

The middle boss monster they faced was named Edax.

A lizard-type monster with a notably large mouth, its characteristic was that if bleeding stopped even briefly, its health surged as if stepping on an accelerator pedal.

Therefore, regardless of the type of bleeding, it was crucial to maintain it continuously.

As soon as the battle started, Ma Jinho and Kang-hoo began moving diligently.

Other dealers thought Kang-hoo would dodge and watch the patterns, but they were mistaken.

Not wanting to prolong playtime, Kang-hoo was proactive from the start in checking the patterns.

And.

Crunch!

He deciphered the preliminary action hidden in Edax’s most tricky pattern, the ‘big bite.’

This was achieved by observing various parts of Edax’s body with a precision-targeting skill.

‘Just before doing the big bite, it tenses up its stomach, and the scales slightly lift in a diagonal direction.’

This is why habits are scary.

Habits so ingrained that one doesn’t even realize them.

In baseball, this is like a pitcher, whose habits have been figured out, suddenly getting hit mercilessly one day.

In sports, even if one’s habits are analyzed, they can be changed, and it’s not a matter of life and death.

But in the world of hunters, it’s different.

What if your habits are picked up by an enemy? It can be fatal because patterns become predictable.

Sure enough.

As Ma Jinho was dealing with Edax, it glanced back at Kang-hoo, causing its abdominal scales to twist diagonally.

The next moment.

【Rapid Evasion】

Crunch!

Kang-hoo cast Rapid Evasion and narrowly dodged Edax’s bite. It was a close call.

“Wow!”

“Whoa! That was really close!”

“Did you predict that in advance?”

Everyone was holding their breath, worried about disturbing Kang-hoo.

Edax’s bite might have been manageable for a defense-maximized Ma Jinho.

But for an assassin like Kang-hoo, it could have been a lethal strike.

However, Kang-hoo easily dodged the attack and unleashed a series of attacks on the now defenseless Edax.

As a quadrupedal monster, when its targeting failed, the time taken to make the next move was lengthy.

The accumulated bleeding stacks reached 10, suppressing recovery.

Soon, they rapidly increased to the maximum of 50 stacks, entering a state of excessive bleeding.

In the excessive bleeding state, attempting to recover could paradoxically reduce health even further, albeit randomly.

Though not the official term, hunters often call this phenomenon “Death Heal.”

Recovery occurs, but it ends up being negative, effectively reducing health.

At 50 stacks, this Death Heal phenomenon can occur probabilistically.

And.

“Kueeek…!”

Edax, trying to recover from the rapid loss of health, spat out viscous saliva and screamed.

It was caught in a Death Heal.

In the midst of this unexpected major mishap, the furious Edax began searching for a target to vent on.

Ma Jinho, standing firm like a mountain, was tough, so it turned to Kang-hoo, who had been bothering it from the start.

system-start

【Rapid Evasion】

system_end

Crunch!

First bite failed.

【Illusion Technique】

Boom! Pop! Boom! Boom!

Creating a disorienting smoke effect by intentionally forming and then dispersing illusions in all directions.

Crunch!

【Shadow Step】

Using shadows for positional shifts, the second bite failed, as did the third and fourth.

Even the last.

Crunch!

【Cutie!】

What Edax viciously bit into wasn’t Kang-hoo but a suddenly formed slime.

At this point, Edax’s remaining patience and sanity completely snapped.

The dim-witted middle boss monster lost its composure entirely. Its future was undoubtedly bleak.

Shortly thereafter,

Trapped in suppressed recovery, Edax, on the express train to the afterlife, ultimately couldn’t withstand the concentrated attacks and died.

Had Kang-hoo been less involved, catching the middle boss wouldn’t have triggered the Skill Plunder.

Thanks to his active participation in the battle, Kang-hoo managed to beautifully plunder one of Edax’s skills.

That was precisely,

【Whisper of Favorable Winds】

【Skill Proficiency: Lv Max】

【Permanently increases ‘Agility’ by 100.】

This was a significant boost in the agility stat, which had been neglected due to a focus on vitality.

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