Shortcut (4)

Basement Level 1.

A woman wearing heavy makeup and clothes that made it hard to know where to look suddenly got into the elevator.

One of Yun Cheol’s subordinates, who had been heading to Basement Level 5 with something to report, flinched in surprise and asked.

“Why are you getting on here? Did you get off at the wrong floor?”

“…….”

As if shy, the blonde woman said nothing. She merely brushed down her long hair.

The only woman who could freely wander around Koma’s hideout like this was a woman who had been touched by Yun Cheol.

For that reason, the subordinate had no intention of touching even a single hair on her head.

If he got caught up in desire and made a mistake, Yun Cheol’s mana-shot rifle would blow his head clean off.

“Did you come out just to get some fresh air or something?”

She nodded.

At that, the subordinate let out a deep sigh. If something happened to the woman while she wandered like that, the responsibility would fall on the guards.

“I’m heading to the boss anyway, so follow me. Next time, if you plan to go outside, bring someone with you.”

Nod.

Seeing that she did not utter a single word the entire time, the subordinate sighed again.

Did she not even want to speak with him?

From the way she did not even spare him a glance, it felt as though she looked down on a mere subordinate like him.

It might have been an inferiority complex, but since he had been treated that way often, it still left him feeling unpleasant.

But what could he do?

She was the boss’s woman.

If he touched the boss’s woman the wrong way, a single touch might send him knocking on death’s door.

If he wanted to live, he simply had to keep his head down and follow orders. Any foolish desire had to stay in his pocket.

Meanwhile, inside the elevator descending slower than expected—perhaps moving cautiously for safety.

Kang-hoo was looking at his reflection in the mirror rather than at the man who appeared to be the subordinate.

‘Fuck.’

Kang-hoo rarely cursed, but this time he felt an unpleasant mixture of emotions.

The person whose appearance Kang-hoo had copied using the Cross-Dress skill was Benny.

According to the skill’s detailed tooltip, it could only mimic someone he had personally seen at least once.

Since the most vivid image in his mind was Benny, whom he had just met, it had been the wisest choice.

The problem was that he liked how he looked in drag—more precisely, how Benny looked.

Was this what they called a sense of moral transgression?

The very thought filled him with deep self-loathing, and his expression almost twisted for a moment.

But since he had decided to use the cross-dressing skill strategically, he could not make the pathetic mistake of revealing his emotions.

The skill could collapse instantly if the flow of mana became even slightly unstable. It was a sensitive skill.

For that reason, minimizing variables was essential if he wanted the disguise to hold perfectly. Emotional disturbance was forbidden as well.

A glance from the subordinate.

As a fellow man, Kang-hoo knew exactly what that gaze meant, which made him feel twice as disgusted.

But to maintain maximum naturalness, he gave a shy smile. It was the first shy smile he had ever made.

It did not work with Shin Kang-hoo’s face, but with Benny’s face it worked well—so well that it felt almost coquettish.

‘I don’t want to use this often. No, I want to minimize using it. TS definitely isn’t my preference.’

Kang-hoo laughed bitterly inwardly. He had used it because it was strategically necessary, but under normal circumstances it would be sealed away.

In any case, he focused on reality.

What continued to worry him was the countdown of the cross-dressing skill, which had a duration of one minute.

Because the elevator was slower than expected, he had already spent 30 seconds inside it.

If it had been an ordinary building, he would have already reached Basement Level 5 and gotten out, but it was only arriving now.

Since he did not know how long the path inside would be, every second counted.

If the disguise broke while he was moving, he would have to proceed with his identity exposed.

If he failed to locate Yun Cheol before that happened, everything could end up ruined at the last moment.

“The path is a bit long, so keep up quickly. Don’t make me turn around for nothing. Got it?”

Nod.

At the subordinate’s words, Kang-hoo stuck closely behind him while checking the remaining time as he walked.

The time kept decreasing.

Perhaps because this was the boss’s area, even after getting off the elevator they still had a long way to go.

Moreover, what looked like rooms were often just decoys when they passed by them.

They were fake rooms disguised only by their exterior.

Perhaps some were not just externally disguised but also internally deceptive.

Some might be real rooms but filled entirely with traps inside. Or structures that could not be opened from within. There could be many variables.

How long had they walked?

While the subordinate walked with complete ease, Kang-hoo’s eyes began busily scanning the surroundings.

The timer dropped into single digits.

When it reached 0 seconds, the cross-dress would end without mercy.

At that moment.

“What’s that behind you?”

Four hunters standing guard at the door extended their hands toward the subordinate.

The subordinate answered casually.

“She looks like a new girl. She was wandering somewhere strange, so I brought her back. She’s the boss’s woman, you know.”

“Really?”

“I’d rather not be misunderstood. Let her in quickly.”

Although the guards had never seen the woman before, they did not seem particularly concerned.

Just by looking at her tight clothing and exposed state, it was obvious she could not be hiding any weapons.

No one present imagined that she might actually be a man disguised with a cross-dressing skill.

Her entire appearance had been copied like a hologram, making it even more convincing.

In reality, Kang-hoo wore completely different clothes and had a dagger at his waist.

But the copied image of Benny overlaying him showed a completely different female appearance and outfit.

A disguise that would collapse like a sandcastle if touched slightly or if mana were allowed to flow into it.

But trapped by the frame of “the boss’s woman,” they did not dare attempt such a thing.

If a third party saw the situation, it would look like a ridiculous chain of misunderstandings.

Only a little time remained.

One sharp guard knocked on the iron door behind him and quickly continued reporting.

Kang-hoo was ready to attack them at any moment. Once the disguise ended, it would become an all-out battle.

“Boss! A new girl has arrived! Shall we let her in?”

“What? She’s already here?”

Yun Cheol’s voice sounded close.

It seemed he had been doing something near the door.

Clink.

The sound of ice hitting ice suggested he had been filling an empty glass with ice.

“Shall we let her in?”

“She shouldn’t be here yet… Just open it first!”

Desire that surpassed reason loosened everyone’s caution.

Creeeak.

The iron door opened.

The guards stepped aside.

The subordinate who had come down to report cleared his throat, preparing to speak.

Kang-hoo precisely recognized the positions of the four guards standing at the points of an X formation.

Shhhhh!

Fwoooooosh!

Almost simultaneously with Dark Energy Release, Dark Energy Ignition burned the four guards’ entire bodies.

He had not calculated the subordinate behind them, but with that level of firepower it was obvious he would be caught in it as well.

At the same time.

Kang-hoo kicked off the ground with full force and chained the Leap skill to pounce on Yun Cheol.

For Yun Cheol, whose main weapon was a mana-shot rifle, there could not be a better opportunity than this moment of vulnerability.

He noticed women inside the room, naked and spending time with Yun Cheol, but ignored them.

“You bastard….”

Yun Cheol looked stunned.

Just moments ago the opponent had clearly been a woman, but suddenly he had turned into a masked man.

However, Yun Cheol was a hunter capable of using auxiliary magic.

Recognizing Kang-hoo’s approach, he instinctively stretched out his hand and deployed a magic skill.

Thorn Wind.

Its killing power was somewhat low, but it was sufficient to repel and deter an approaching hunter.

But.

Kang-hoo evaded sideways with ease. In fact, Yun Cheol extending his hand made target designation easier.

Kang-hoo instantly entered stealth and moved behind Yun Cheol, where his back came into view instead of his disgusting face.

Seeing Yun Cheol hurriedly cast a protection skill on his upper body, Kang-hoo made a swift judgment.

Stab!

He thrust into Yun Cheol’s side at the waist.

“Aaaaargh!”

The Great Decapitation strike that pierced the unprotected side of his waist was fatal.

Even so, Yun Cheol quickly regained his composure and made a realistic decision before responding again.

A kind of telekinetic skill.

Yun Cheol controlled the mana-shot rifle placed beside the room and immediately aimed it at Kang-hoo.

“Aaaah!”

“That’s terrifying!”

The screams of the women in the room formed background noise, but neither Kang-hoo nor Yun Cheol paid attention.

They did not even have time to notice such sounds. It was a moment of life and death.

Bang!

The mana-shot rifle, which had finished self-loading, fired a mana bullet at Kang-hoo.

Since a charging mana stone was embedded in the rifle, it could fire several rounds even without mana.

Though badly wounded by the sudden ambush, Yun Cheol thought the situation had now reversed.

Could a mere opponent defeat a gunner who could fire without even holding the gun? Absolutely impossible.

At that moment.

Thud!

“…?”

Yun Cheol heard a sound that should not have existed.

It was the unmistakable sound of a mana bullet being blocked weakly by something.

“Nice shot.”

Before Kang-hoo’s half-mocking praise could even finish, he climbed onto Yun Cheol’s body.

Straddling him like riding on his shoulders, Kang-hoo crossed his legs around Yun Cheol’s neck and squeezed with full force.

When Yun Cheol glanced sideways, he saw something like a wall standing near Kang-hoo’s left arm.

Not knowing the Wall of Integrity skill, Yun Cheol wondered what skill it was—but that was not the important part.

Now firmly mounted on Yun Cheol’s neck, Kang-hoo raised his dagger above Yun Cheol’s crown.

Stab!

He drove it down with full force.

With his legs choking Yun Cheol’s neck and fixing the target point, there was no possibility of missing.

On top of that, he stacked multiplicative damage to maximize the power of a single skill strike.

Three times from Hostile Trade.

Two times from Weirdo.

A total sixfold amplification drove Great Decapitation straight into the crown of Yun Cheol’s head.

Unless his skull had been made of steel, there was no way to survive.

“Ghk….”

Thud!

Before he could even scream properly, Yun Cheol’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed forward.

There was not even time to activate Judgement.

Having consecutively exposed his most vital points in a helpless state, Yun Cheol could not even properly fire his mana-shot rifle.

‘Telekinesis was somewhat innovative.’

If not for the Wall of Integrity skill, he might have fallen to a surprise snipe.

First, he confirmed that constellation plundering had been completed from the guards he had killed earlier and from Yun Cheol.

He would have liked to strip Yun Cheol of his items as well, but the alarm had already been ringing for some time.

And amid the growing commotion, smoke bombs and paralysis grenades were flying toward him.

It seemed the internal forces had arrived at the scene. If directly exposed to a paralysis grenade, even Kang-hoo would not withstand it.

He activated Blood Flower on Yun Cheol’s corpse, cleanly severing the head that had been dangling loosely.

There could be no better proof of completing the request than this.

After roughly tossing Yun Cheol’s head and the ring he had ripped off into his subspace, Kang-hoo immediately activated his teleportation ability.

There was no cleaner way to leave the scene.

Thus, having struck Yun Cheol through an unexpectedly opened shortcut, Kang-hoo successfully completed the request.

In effect, he had obtained three Hematite almost like unearned profit.

As for today’s cross-dressing, he planned to never reveal it to anyone close to him for the rest of his life.

Not even to his master.