Skill Copy (2)

He had seen a total of three skills.

In the case of Heavenly Net – Kill, its feature was that after expanding the net formed of dark energy to its maximum, it could then be contracted instantly.

Especially because the net’s shape resembled the Line of Distortion, enemies caught in it were inevitably shredded to death.

Kang-hoo asked Celestial Assassin once again to demonstrate all three skills.

He didn’t want to waste his one-time skill copy opportunity carelessly.

After firmly imprinting the three skills in his mind, Kang-hoo asked a question tinged with regret.

“Would you happen to have any other skills you could show me?”

“You brat. Why don’t you just say you want to become me? How far are you planning to go before you’re satisfied?”

“I got greedy wondering if there might be something even better.”

“There’s nothing else. I showed you the three skills I count on one hand. I guarantee the rest aren’t worth much.”

“Understood.”

Kang-hoo also wondered if Celestial Assassin might have a hidden skill.

Since there was no restriction on copying, a hidden skill could also be copied if it existed.

Someone of his caliber was surely likely to have one, but it seemed he didn’t think it worth revealing.

Kang-hoo didn’t think Celestial Assassin was hiding a skill out of selfishness.

If that were the case, he wouldn’t have given him the chance to study each skill to begin with.

Just as he said.

The three skills were handpicked, and the others were either too shameful to give to a disciple or came with problems.

Dark Chaos Rain could replace the role of Black Moon Slash. It was certainly powerful, but overlapped in composition.

Though Dark Chaos Rain impressed Kang-hoo with its destructive power, there was something unsatisfying about choosing it.

He preferred to gain a skill that had a different “flavor” than the ones he already possessed.

Especially since this was a legitimate skill copied from a renowned assassin hunter, his master, the Celestial Assassin.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that might never come again, and he didn’t want to waste it.

Confusion Blast Shadow could mentally dominate a troublesome enemy, but it was a high-risk, high-reward skill.

It only held significant value if he was confident in being superior to his opponent.

But what if the enemy was mentally resilient or of a much higher level?

The trap set by Confusion Blast Shadow could backfire disastrously. It would be the worst-case scenario.

Heavenly Net – Kill was the most tempting. It felt like an area-of-effect version of Line of Distortion.

At present, the only reliable area attack skill Kang-hoo had was Thunderclap Shock.

If he could add Heavenly Net – Kill to his arsenal, small fry who carelessly approached could be wiped out all at once.

Kang-hoo realized this while fighting multiple wardens at Cheongmyeong Detention Center.

He needed at least one skill capable of slaughtering many enemies at once.

Only then could he quickly crush enemy morale and shift the tide of battle. That was something Kang-hoo found lacking.

The decision was made.

He wanted all of them, but since he couldn’t, he had to choose the one he wanted most.

Then, carefully, Kang-hoo began to speak to Celestial Assassin.

“Master.”

“What now, you rascal.”

“May I take one of your skills, Master? I will not disgrace your name or your skill.”

“…Did you really gain the ability to steal skills?”

“Then why else would you have shown me your skills?”

“I thought you were just making an excuse because you wanted to see them… You were serious, huh.”

“Of course I was serious.”

Celestial Assassin looked dumbfounded.

He had dismissed it as a joke, even though he had said it himself.

He was momentarily surprised, but soon regained his composure and continued.

“Take it. If it’s a skill that would disappear when I die, I’d be happy to pass it on to my disciple.”

“Are you serious?”

“What, do you want me to sign something?”

“In that case…”

As Kang-hoo checked his status window and tried to activate the skill copy, his fingertips trembled.

When he first obtained the one-time, guaranteed chance to copy a skill—

He had thought about taking one of the Celestial Assassin’s skills but never believed it would become a reality.

That’s how closed-off and hostile toward outsiders the Celestial Assassin was.

Kang-hoo hadn’t even thought he would get a chance to meet the man.

His base, surrounded by countless traps and formation arrays, was no different from a graveyard.

But now, here he was, standing before the Celestial Assassin as his disciple, about to take one of his skills.

A dream had become reality.

No, it was even better than the dream he once had.

“Take it. I just stay still, right?”

“Yes.”

“Just as I thought. You’re someone in whom the energy of the universe gathers.”

Energy of the universe.

It was a ridiculous metaphor, but Kang-hoo didn’t think it was entirely wrong.

After all, it was true that he had received more benefits and privileges than anyone else. This wasn’t ordinary energy.

Skill copy was activated.

Although the Celestial Assassin’s real name and the skill’s name didn’t appear, the skill Kang-hoo had seen was shown like a short clip.

There was no need to hesitate.

Skill copy began immediately!

It was over in the blink of an eye—so fast it was almost absurd. And before he knew it, the skill had been added.

The tooltip matched almost exactly what Kang-hoo had felt while watching Celestial Assassin’s use of Heavenly Net – Kill.

There were two additional details:

The range of the net could be expanded further in proportion to the user’s dark energy, and its contraction speed could be equally increased.

Additionally, escaping from within the net turned out to be much harder than expected.

As a natural side effect of the skill copying process, the general usage method of Heavenly Net – Kill was imprinted into him.

However, it wasn’t perfect, so Kang-hoo sought help from Celestial Assassin.

“Master, please help me refine Heavenly Net – Kill so I can wield it smoothly.”

“Of course, I should. It’s still my skill, after all. I have to teach it properly for it to be worth passing on, don’t I?”

From that moment, rigorous training began—not just to use Heavenly Net – Kill as a borrowed skill, but to make it entirely his own.

Celestial Assassin had originally planned to move on to the second phase of training, the one after the apple training.

But he believed that teaching the usage of Heavenly Net – Kill would be even more meaningful and demanding than the second phase.

And so, following the first round of training, the gates of hell opened once more for Kang-hoo.

Two hours later.

Kang-hoo was panting heavily, while Celestial Assassin looked on with satisfaction.

Watching the two without a word, Ju Haemi’s lips twitched.

First of all, Kang-hoo’s emotional control, which Celestial Assassin had aimed to instill, was progressing smoothly.

In Ju Haemi’s eyes, the color of Kang-hoo’s emotions—visible only to her—was now stable and unchanging, unlike before.

Except that the color leaned close to pitch black, its consistency was undeniable.

‘What is that…?’

But there was something that kept prompting questions in her mind—his skill.

From the start of training, she had detected Kang-hoo using Heavenly Net – Kill exactly as Celestial Assassin had shown.

It wasn’t just a similar skill or a poor imitation. It was the exact same Heavenly Net – Kill.

‘I really can’t figure him out. Does he have even more secrets than Father suspects?’

When Kang-hoo had stepped out for a few days on personal business, Ju Haemi spent a lot of time talking with Celestial Assassin.

In particular, they had many conversations about the unique aspects Celestial Assassin sensed in Kang-hoo.

Celestial Assassin believed that Kang-hoo could learn and acquire skills in ways different from others.

He suspected that high-tier constellations had also significantly intervened in that process.

If Kang-hoo had the proper foundation laid for him, his growth could be explosively fast, he said.

The combat footage from Cheongmyeong Detention Center that circulated on social media reinforced that conviction.

Even while dozens of wardens fired enchanted bullets, Kang-hoo calmly blocked them all with a single wall—

That overwhelming display of power felt more unreal than any movie or novel.

‘Now he’s even using Father’s skill. And skill copy is supposed to be such a rare opportunity…’

Skill Copy.

It’s such a rare occurrence that it’s practically meaningless to talk in terms of odds—it’s near impossible to acquire in dungeons.

Even limiting it to well-known named hunters, the number who’ve successfully copied a skill can be counted on two hands.

Yet Kang-hoo was openly using Celestial Assassin’s skill, Heavenly Net – Kill.

‘I don’t know… I really don’t.’

The more she saw, the more she thought, the higher she inevitably had to rate Kang-hoo.

That’s why Ju Haemi made a conscious effort to find fault with Kang-hoo.

Even though he had earned her father’s favor, that was all the more reason to verify him objectively and cool-headedly.

But terrifyingly, the more she learned about Shin Kang-hoo, the more natural it became to lift him up.

‘I just hope he doesn’t betray Father’s expectations. That alone… would make me happy.’

Watching Kang-hoo immersed in training, Ju Haemi bit her lip as she observed Celestial Assassin’s contented expression.

These days, Celestial Assassin had been spending each day in high spirits.

The irritation and groans of pain that used to erupt frequently in China had disappeared altogether.

Ju Haemi was convinced this change was thanks to Kang-hoo—nothing else had changed.

To Ju Haemi, Celestial Assassin was the top-tier assassin with unparalleled skills.

And she hoped that his disciple Kang-hoo would one day surpass him.

That was part of why Celestial Assassin had wrapped up his life in China and returned to Korea.

If so, then the results must be seen—exactly as Celestial Assassin wished and planned.

At the same time.

Jang Si-hwan was drawing conclusions based on the last bits of intel he had secured and everything his investigation had turned up so far.

What had begun less from personal curiosity and more from being pressured by Vincent Meyer—

Was the result of an investigation to identify who had obtained the hidden skill Black Moon Slash / White Sun Slash during the previous Hell of Judgment run.

Multiple possibilities had been raised, and various assassins had been considered as potential suspects.

But the final conclusion pointed to just one assassin.

And that assassin was not only someone very familiar to Jang Si-hwan—but someone quite close by.

Jang Si-hwan let out a bitter laugh and murmured to himself.

“Vincent’s going to call.”

And sure enough—

Bzzzzt! Bzzzzt!

A call came in immediately.

The caller: Vincent Meyer.

The man who, at the mention of a ‘hidden skill,’ would glare and obsessively hunt down the owner like a rabid dog.