The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

Even if it’s not explicitly labeled as betrayal, there are ways to nurture a character who becomes an antagonist.

For example, figures like Lee Hyun-seok of the Warlord Abyss or Lee Ye-rin of the Cheong-an Mercenary Corps are good examples.

They have already formed anti-Jeonghwa forces or are soon to do so.

In the original story, most of the figures opposing Jang Si-hwan met their end in death…

But that will no longer happen.

Even if it were to happen, I plan to prevent it somehow.

“We’re almost there.”

“Right. The boss monster standing alone like that looks terrifying. Even scarier since it’s playing two roles at once.”

“Ready?”

A little later, Kang-hoo and An Yeong-ho were looking at the dungeon’s middle boss and main boss monster.

As a middle boss, its name was “Joy,” and as a main boss, it was called “Hatred.”

It had a structure where two faces were attached to one body, unlike the typical structure with a face and the back of the head.

Joy was the face in front that smiled, and Hatred was the face behind, full of rage.

The first to open the battle was Joy.

Unlike Hatred, its concept was that of a typical tank character, enduring attacks with its body.

“As I mentioned before, the creature has a recovery pattern. I’ll handle maintaining the bleed effect and suppressing its recovery, so don’t worry about that.”

“Understood. I’ll focus on exploiting the death heal chance when the recovery pattern kicks in.”

“Good. You’ve got it down.”

Death heal refers to a scenario where, in an attempt to recover from excessive bleeding, the health instead depletes by the same amount as the recovery.

It only activates when the bleed effect reaches the maximum of 50 stacks, making it a very tricky condition to meet.

After all, not only is it difficult to reach 50 stacks, but the duration is also short.

Thanks to his enhanced bleed ability, Kang-hoo could maintain the bleed effect for a minimum of 4 seconds and up to 6 seconds.

In other words, depending on the situation, as long as he inflicted a wound within 4 to 6 seconds, it was possible to stack the bleed to the next level.

“Conserve your mana as much as possible. It’s better to save your cards during Joy’s phase, as it shares information with Hatred.”

“Of course. I plan to stick to basic healing, hyungnim.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Kang-hoo immediately charged toward Joy.

As the uninvited guest approached, Joy’s ever-present smile twisted into an even wider grin.

It felt as if it couldn’t express anger or hatred, replacing emotions with an exaggerated smile.

That made it even more grotesque, resembling something like a traditional Hahoe mask.

“Not fully recovered yet.”

Kang-hoo nodded.

Thanks to his and An Yeong-ho’s steady advance, Joy’s recovery was less complete than expected.

According to the strategy guide from the Rikou Guild,

Hunters typically arrived after being severely drained by the plundering debuff, always facing Joy in its best condition.

However, this time, blood was still trickling from parts of Joy’s abdomen and thighs.

It’s unclear why the boss monster started with a penalty, but that’s just how the dungeon was designed.

In a way, it also served to gauge the abilities of the hunters challenging the dungeon.

The stronger and more skilled the hunters, the sooner they would arrive before Joy could fully recover.

“Whoo-hoo! Whoo-hoo!”

Joy unleashed a series of one-two punches, threatening Kang-hoo.

Being a massive humanoid monster, even the simple act of extending its fists stirred up wind.

Swiish! Swiish!

Kang-hoo didn’t pay much attention to Joy’s attacks, stabbing its body according to his original plan.

The punches weren’t worth taking head-on, so he dodged them with slight footwork.

“You’re fast.”

An Yeong-ho’s eyes gleamed as he watched the fight between Kang-hoo and Joy.

Despite Joy’s boxing-style punches aimed at Kang-hoo, he hadn’t taken a single hit at such close range.

Meanwhile, each time Kang-hoo’s dagger passed through, blood splattered, steadily building up the bleed stacks.

Instead of going for one powerful blow, Kang-hoo aimed for multiple hits, seeking to stack the bleed effect.

His style had completely changed from the destructive approach he used against previous monsters.

“You certainly have a long duration. That’s why you seem to attack so calmly.”

The typical bleed dealer’s stack duration is 2 seconds, while Kang-hoo’s lasts for 6 seconds, three times longer.

A 4-second difference is massive on the battlefield, where every second counts, and it was fully reflected in the battle.

Kang-hoo retreated whenever Joy tried to push aggressively.

As long as he succeeded in an attack within the extended bleed duration, he could maintain the effect.

The enhancement from the bleed effect typically triggered an additional duration of about 5 seconds, somewhere between the usual minimum of 2 and the maximum of 6.

Even when considering the average, his bleed duration was 2.5 times longer than the standard bleed dealer.

In an instant, the bleed had stacked up to 50.

From that moment on, his battle style shifted from a ‘dodge and counterattack’ strategy to an all-out offensive.

He didn’t overuse his skills.

He simply dodged Joy’s simple, straightforward attacks with lateral movements, striking from behind.

Whether Joy was just dumb or simply too simple-minded, it steadily whittled down its own health.

Perhaps it fought without much concern, relying on its recovery.

After all, when the recovery pattern was triggered, its health would recover by more than 50%, no matter what.

Because of this frustrating recovery pattern, the dungeon was unpopular within the Rikou Guild.

The dungeon had been practically half-abandoned, with the most recent raid attempt occurring about three months ago.

At that moment.

“Uhuuu!”

Joy took a deep breath, preparing to initiate its recovery.

It was a forced pattern, activated immediately, so there was no way to delay or interrupt it.

‘Hyungnim has already set everything up!’

An Yeong-ho clenched his fists. Death Heal could only be triggered with 50 bleed stacks—a rare condition.

An Yeong-ho had only experienced it in dungeons where he had gone with many bleed dealers.

He didn’t expect to see it in a two-man raid, but Kang-hoo had perfectly set the stage for it.

“Huaaah!”

Joy raised both arms to embrace the incoming wave of recovery energy.

Even as Kang-hoo relentlessly drove his dagger in, Joy ignored it, knowing it would recover soon anyway.

An Yeong-ho didn’t consider failure for a second.

It was thanks to what Kang-hoo had said before they reached the final area.

Even if Death Heal doesn’t trigger and it recovers normally, the recovery pattern would’ve filled its health anyway, so failing isn’t an issue.

Even if Death Heal triggers but it recovers due to an off-timed heal, it would’ve lost some health anyway, so it’s fine.

An Yeong-ho knew well that Kang-hoo said this to keep his mind under control.

If the process got messed up.

It would only mean more trouble for Kang-hoo, who would have to work harder to maintain the bleed effect and deal damage.

But to prevent unnecessary distractions, Kang-hoo had cleverly reframed the situation to ease the burden.

‘Time to earn my keep!’

An Yeong-ho bit his lip hard. Then, as Joy began recovering, he cast his ultimate recovery spell.

It was his most confident healing skill, and the crowning ability of any healer.

The next moment.

“Urgh!”

Joy’s face twisted as it entered recovery mode, its eyes rolling back.

It was clearly in shock.

Just as Kang-hoo had planned, Death Heal had triggered.

And then.

Shaaah!

A wave of recovery energy enveloped Joy.

“Keh-heok…!”

Instead of healing, it fueled Death Heal. The very recovery energy turned into damage.

“Yes!”

Kang-hoo shouted.

At that moment, Kang-hoo rushed in, attacking Joy, now caught in a double-damage combo of Death Heal and the recovery energy.

As it rapidly lost health, Joy entered a state of shock and exhaustion, leaving it as helpless as a fool.

“Woo… Woohoo! Hooray!”

An Yeong-ho raised his arms in triumph without even realizing it.

He never expected to see something he had only known in theory play out so smoothly!

Whether or not he shared in An Yeong-ho’s joy, Kang-hoo didn’t waste the opportunity and was busy butchering Joy.

Now unable to resist, Joy was helplessly splattering blood under Kang-hoo’s relentless slashes.

There was nothing left to see.

Kang-hoo, having driven his dagger into Joy’s body all over, confirmed that the ‘seasoning’ was sufficient and activated Blood Flower.

Boom! Boom!

And with that, it was over.

The perfect synchronization between the two had turned Joy’s tricky recovery pattern into a death sentence.

Meanwhile, Kang-hoo checked the skill he had just stolen from Joy upon its death and smiled in satisfaction.

【Affinity - Divinity】

【Skill Proficiency: Lv. Max】

【The efficiency of divine power recovery or healing skills increases by 33%.】

It was a skill that heightened affinity, increasing responsiveness to a particular attribute.

Because of this, Joy’s recovery patterns likely had much higher self-healing amounts than expected.

Of course, now that Death Heal had triggered, this had become a fatal trait.

‘It’s a passive skill, so I don’t need to pay much attention to it. This is good.’

You can’t rely indefinitely on a healer to recover and support healing skills.

So even with a single recovery, efficiency mattered, and this timely acquisition of a good skill was a relief.

‘Considering this, they haven’t really learned much about my skills. I’ve only shown off some lateral movement and acceleration, huh?’

Kang-hoo steadied his breath, preparing to face the next boss monster that would soon appear.

Although Joy’s body had been torn apart in the explosion, with blood spilling from its mangled flesh…

Fwooosh!

Suddenly, dark energy erupted from Hatred’s newly opened eyes, engulfing its entire body.

Then, as if rewinding time, the scattered flesh and blood returned to their original places.

As if nothing had happened, Hatred’s new face emerged, along with a perfectly healed body.

Hatred, after its reassembly, now had a lean and slender body, unlike the massive Joy from before.

“Ugh.”

An Yeong-ho groaned.

Even at a glance, Hatred radiated an overwhelming sense of intimidation.

Above all, the chilling cold that rapidly dropped the surrounding temperature was murderous.

The once mild air was now cold enough to leave white frost in each breath.

‘It’s not just the dark aura—this monster’s skill is the main reason we’re here.’

Kang-hoo smacked his lips.

The real prey was Hatred.

Among the skills Hatred favored, there was one that Kang-hoo absolutely wanted.

It was ‘Distortion Slash.’

A skill partially linked to space distortion, making it incredibly troublesome for anyone facing it.

In other words, the most challenging opponent had just appeared for Kang-hoo, who was currently in the challenger’s position.

The easy, fun warm-up was over. Now, it was time for a fierce fight to claim the prize.

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