Assassination Attempt (2)
It had been about four years since the Baekdu Bloodline began accepting assassination requests on the dark web under the name ‘Black & White.’
At first, White Tiger secretly took on requests alone to accelerate his own rapid growth, but as the scale gradually increased, he eventually revealed the existence of ‘Black & White’ to the members up to Baekdu Bloodline No. 15, including himself, and designated all of them as members of Black & White.
After that, Black & White became even more active on the dark web and steadily expanded its scale.
Given the nature of the PvP system, they could receive far greater rewards, so the fifteen Baekdu Bloodline users active in Black & White were able to grow much faster than other users.
To the point that, even within the Baekdu Bloodline itself, the top fifteen users were treated as if they were users from another world.
That was how wide the gap had become… and at present, excluding White Tiger, the remaining members of Black & White were between level 60 and 70.
Compared to the grade of their awakened abilities, their levels were extremely high. Naturally, this was all thanks to PvP activities.
Even those who had initially felt some resistance toward PvP gradually became completely absorbed in it… almost as if addicted to a drug, once their previously frustratingly slow growth rate accelerated again.
As a result, they had grown far stronger than what was known externally, and now they feared no one.
‘At this level, except for the Twelve Heavens, we could take down anyone.’
Bringing Nos. 4, 5, and 6 along and arriving near the Stone Gate, No. 2 nodded to himself with a confident expression.
No matter how much the opponent was the recently sensational AbsoluteSafetyFirst, he believed the outcome would not differ much.
To the outside world, aside from White Tiger, the rest of the Baekdu Bloodline were known merely as somewhat strong hunter-class users in their level 50s—but in reality, that was not true.
He himself, No. 2, was already level 67, and with just a bit more effort, he felt he might even become a Noblesse-class user.
In that sense, this PvP was extremely important.
‘Considering what AbsoluteSafetyFirst has accomplished so far… the spoils should be considerable, right?’
Although half would have to be offered up to White Tiger and the remainder shared with the others who came along, it was still expected to be quite lucrative.
Lost in pleasant imagination, No. 2 arrived at the designated entry point of the Stone Gate.
The method by which the Korean Management Bureau managed the Stone Gate area was rather primitive.
Since electronic equipment such as CCTV could not be used, they stationed two strike battalions in the area and had strike members patrol it directly.
It was a primitive method, but its effectiveness was certain, so most people did not dare to illegally enter this zone.
If caught by the Bureau, one could face all sorts of sanctions, so people simply avoided the Stone Gate zone that the Bureau had pre-designated and announced.
‘Let’s see… We’ll enter in ten minutes.’
The collaborator inside the Stone Gate had informed them not only of the patrol schedule but had also said he would thoroughly ignore any disturbance inside, claiming he was merely obeying upper orders to let the VIP hunt alone, no matter what commotion occurred.
With that arrangement, they only needed to comfortably carry out PvP inside and escape at leisure.
“We enter in ten minutes. Stand by.”
Because the Baekdu Bloodline operated under a strict chain-of-command system according to their numbers, No. 2 spoke to Nos. 4, 5, and 6 in the tone of issuing an order, and they silently nodded in obedience.
Ten minutes later, they entered the Stone Gate area with ease. After all, under the pretext of VIP hunting, the Management Bureau was not patrolling the interior at all.
Thus, the four quickly moved deeper inside and began searching for the user called the VIP.
And after twenty minutes…
They finally discovered the place where the VIP was hunting.
KWA-KWA-KWANG!
The moment something fell from the sky, Stone Golems and Stone Bugs exploded simultaneously.
All the Baekdu Bloodline users who witnessed the sight were startled.
‘What was that? Where did that attack come from?’
They rapidly scanned the surroundings, but nowhere could they see the user called VIP.
Meanwhile, a Stone Golem that had survived the explosion began walking in one direction.
Thud. Thud.
‘Follow that one.’
As No. 2 gestured, they followed the Stone Golem, and the others moved with him.
The Stone Golem crushed every obstacle in its path with its body as it advanced as quickly as possible toward whoever had attacked it.
While following it, No. 2 truly could not understand the situation.
‘Where on earth was that attack launched from?’
Of course, he had seen the video of Hallasan being blown away. But the attack he had just witnessed was clearly not on that level of large-scale destruction.
Though he could not pinpoint the exact point of origin, he believed that by following the Stone Golem, they would eventually encounter the VIP suspected to be AbsoluteSafetyFirst.
But that expectation was wrong.
The Stone Golem that had been moving ahead suddenly had its head burst apart and collapsed, then dissolved as it was.
‘What is this?’
No. 2 was genuinely startled, but since he had heard something resembling an explosion in the distance, he was certain the target must be somewhere nearby.
“He should be somewhere around here, so spread out and look. If you find him, immediately inform the others via community mail.”
No. 2 whispered as he gave the order, and the four dispersed in all directions to search for the target.
Meanwhile, the very target they were so diligently seeking… no, Seon Yul, finished hunting another group of Stone Golems and reset the weapons he had used.
‘This area seems cleared… I should start moving to another point.’
Once he selected a point, Seon Yul usually hunted about four Stone Golem groups before continually relocating.
Waiting for respawn beyond that took too long, so it was more efficient to move elsewhere and hunt in another area.
After roughly organizing things inside Absolute Space, Seon Yul equipped his gear.
After putting on his enchanted safety helmet and stab-resistant vest, then the mask, leather coat, and leather pants made by the leather artisan Michiko, and finally draping the mithril stealth cloak over himself, he felt reassured.
The leather coat and leather pants Michiko had made this time were definitely of excellent performance.
[Drake Leather Coat <Magic++>]
— A leather coat made from black Drake hide. Through triple lamination processing, three sheets of Drake hide were fused as if they were a single sheet before being crafted into this coat, giving it outstanding comfort and performance. <Crafted by Leather Artisan Michiko>
[Base Effect] Defense +50 / Resistance +20
[Skill] Triple yet Light (Passive): Reduces the weight of the leather coat by 70%, increasing wearing comfort.
[Drake Leather Pants <Magic+>]
— Leather pants made from black drake hide. Through triple lamination processing, three sheets of Drake hide were fused together as if they were a single sheet before being crafted into these pants, giving them outstanding comfort and performance. <Crafted by Leather Artisan Michiko>
[Base Effect] Defense +40 / Resistance +15
[Skill] Triple yet Light (Passive): Reduces the weight of the leather pants by 70%, increasing wearing comfort.
Both were excellently crafted armor pieces, and Seon Yul liked them.
He did not regret at all the ten sheets of Drake hide he had paid as crafting fees, and even thought he should commission more items later if needed.
After finishing preparations, Seon Yul stepped out of Absolute Space and closed it.
‘Let’s move about 4 kilometers in that direction.’
Since he had already checked the map inside Absolute Space, he had roughly decided which direction to go and how far.
The size of the Stone Gate hunting ground was considerable.
More precisely, centered on the Gate itself, the entire Stone Gate zone formed a circular region with a diameter of roughly 15 kilometers, and Stone Golems appeared scattered throughout it.
The reason Stone Golems were found across such a wide area was that they possessed the ability to burrow, allowing them to travel underground and then burst out above ground.
Thus, Seon Yul had no choice but to continually change points to find Stone Golem groups.
Although the Management Bureau had completely vacated the hunting ground for him, Seon Yul still moved cautiously, without lowering his guard.
However, no matter how careful he was, Seon Yul did not possess any detection-related abilities or items, so he could not sense other users approaching stealthily from afar.
If only his level had been higher… but with even his level lower than his opponents’, it was all the more so.
Ultimately, it was No. 4 who discovered Seon Yul first.
As a reinforcement-type user, No. 4’s physical abilities were outstanding in every aspect.
His awakened ability was precisely Physical Enhancement (A).
Physical Enhancement was categorized as one of the highest-tier abilities among reinforcement-type awakened abilities.
Rather than strengthening only one aspect, such as Strength Enhancement or Agility Enhancement, it enhanced the body’s entire physical capabilities, making it more efficient overall.
Of course, some argued that in exchange, it lacked specialization compared to abilities that enhanced only one attribute, but once an A-grade awakened ability surpassed level 60, that was no longer a significant issue.
In any case, true to a Physical Enhancement awakened ability user, he possessed exceptional vision, and from afar, he spotted Seon Yul and immediately contacted his comrades.
Although Seon Yul wore the mithril stealth cloak, the cloak displayed its full effectiveness only when standing still, so it could not evade the keen eyesight of No. 4, who was already enhanced.
No. 4 simply continued trailing Seon Yul from a distance.
There was an instruction from No. 2 not to attempt a solo ambush to ensure a certain assassination, and he himself had no intention of risking the mission by overreaching.
‘He’s extremely cautious… Someone else should probably approach first rather than me.’
Since his awakened ability was far from suited to a stealthy approach, he believed No. 6, who had the highest guaranteed stealth among the four, should approach first.
While he was thinking that, Nos. 2, 5, and 6 also drew near Seon Yul.
And since they shared similar thoughts to No. 4, No. 6 was the first to move closer to Seon Yul.
No. 6’s awakened ability was ‘Stealth (A).’
In a sense, this was the most specialized ability for assassination… it allowed him to move in a transparent state.
Although aside from that, its only other advantage was being able to make his weapons and equipment transparent as well. However, since the awakened ability suppressed not only his body but also his scent and sound to the greatest extent possible, if used properly, it could make him the ultimate assassin.
In fact, just three years ago, No. 6 had barely been admitted as No. 15 into Black & White.
But afterward, fully utilizing his ability, he cleared all sorts of dirty assassination missions and achieved explosive growth based on that, rising to No. 6.
The weakness of his Stealth ability was that the moment he attempted an attack, his form would be revealed… but since his combat style involved approaching as closely as possible, delivering a lethal strike, then retreating to use Stealth again, it was not a major issue.
Ssssss.
Slowly and with extreme caution, No. 6 approached Seon Yul.
Having completely turned transparent through Stealth, he left not even footprints as he advanced.
Fortunately for him, Seon Yul was not moving quickly but was instead slowly scanning his surroundings, making it perfect for trailing him.
After covering several hundred meters and catching up, No. 6 managed to close the distance to within truly two meters of Seon Yul.
Now, if he took just one more step forward, he would have to immediately ambush him.
If he stuck too close, even with Stealth concealing his body, the opponent might feel some sense of discomfort.
No. 6 subtly surveyed the surroundings.
At that moment, a command from No. 2 arrived via the community mail he had left open.
‘We’re all nearby. Attack now.’
The instant the order dropped…
Without the slightest hesitation, No. 6 took a large step forward and simultaneously thrust the dagger in his right hand forcefully toward the center of Seon Yul’s back.
Kkkaaang!
However, the dagger that he had naturally expected to sink deeply into his back was instead futilely deflected, and at the same time, No. 6’s form was revealed.
‘An attack shield!?’
In that moment, No. 6 realized something had gone wrong… but he was not greatly frightened.
After all, at the very instant he launched his attack, his comrades were supposed to rush at Seon Yul simultaneously, so he thought he merely needed to withdraw as is, hide again with Stealth, and aim for another follow-up strike.
But there was something faster than that thought.
It was Seon Yul’s response.
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