Pruina (2)

“Haa.”

Yu Cheonghwa was not someone who sighed unless it was truly necessary.

But even she could not easily soothe her heart today, after such an exhausting day, and in the end, she let out a stale sigh.

The Shinto Guild succession war.

This war, which several Chinese media outlets called the “succession battle,” was still ongoing.

The method was simple.

It ended when the parties who had jumped into the succession fight declared surrender or died.

When Yu Cheonghwa first participated in the succession battle, people had not rated her chances highly.

They had naturally assumed that either Sim Jun-gyeong of the moderate faction or Chu Ye-seong of the hardliner faction would ascend to the seat of power.

But the situation changed when Yu Cheonghwa utilized the strength of the Shinsu Guild, a satellite guild of the Shinto Guild.

Her foresight, steadily investing the wealth she had accumulated while running the market into the Shinsu Guild, had shone through.

On top of that, the situation changed drastically when Sim Jun-gyeong died in the early stage of the succession battle.

The follower forces of Sim Jun-gyeong, the moderate, were not absorbed by Chu Ye-seong of the hardliner faction, but were instead divided.

Some chose a neutral position, while the rest began lending their strength to Yu Cheonghwa, who belonged to the centrist faction.

Thanks to that, the war had become one that Yu Cheonghwa could now try to win.

Sim Jun-gyeong’s death had turned the succession battle not into a process of conclusion, but into a process of intensification.

Yu Cheonghwa, lying on the sofa, habitually turned on the TV and flipped through channel after channel.

Then, when she saw Korean news, and specifically a report about Daejeon, she stopped the remote.

The report was covering Kang-hoo, who had assassinated the two leaders of Heuksaja, and Lee Ye-rin’s strategy.

“Shin Kang-hoo is amazing every time news of him comes in. In a situation where one is outnumbered, there’s no class that becomes as paper-thin as an assassin.”

Assassination was not omnipotent.

It was called assassination because it was difficult.

Moreover, killing not one but two hunters higher-level than oneself was close to impossible.

Terms like advantage in level and advantage in numbers existed for a reason.

There was a gap that could not be narrowed as much as the difference between them, and accordingly, many possibilities were suppressed.

Yet Kang-hoo had broken the common sense that said it was impossible and boldly jumped right into the middle of the enemy camp.

The result, as seen in the report, was a perfectly successful assassination. Assassins with that level of skill were rare.

In Korea, there were so many assassins who only wasted food and attention instead of being useful that the term “burdensassin” was used more often.

Considering the global trend of skilled assassins becoming rare, Kang-hoo’s ability was astonishing.

“No wonder Takashi would like him. Emilia seems to have been quite taken by him too. If I hadn’t come to China…… I would have gotten closer to him.”

Yu Cheonghwa smacked her lips in regret.

The thought that suddenly occurred to her as she watched the news report was whether she should try using Lee Ye-rin’s lure tactic.

She had already figured out Chu Ye-seong’s impatience, wanting to end the succession battle as quickly as possible.

However, recruiting insiders was not easy, so it seemed difficult to create a traitor within Chu Ye-seong’s forces.

“If I want to shake up the board for certain, it would be right to risk my life and throw a decisive move like Lee Ye-rin did…….”

Deep wrinkles formed between her brows.

Jang Si-hwan had contacted her not long ago, saying he would help, but she had flatly refused.

She had no desire to become his puppet. Whether she won or lost, Yu Cheonghwa wanted to seize the result solely through her own strength.

And once she distanced herself, she could see it.

How hypocritical Jang Si-hwan was.

Furthermore, under the name of comrades, how much he wanted to keep the people around him under his control and manipulate them.

She could see his black intentions.

On top of that, the atmosphere surrounding Jeonghwa Guild had also changed.

When Yu Cheonghwa joined Justice, Jeonghwa Guild and Jang Si-hwan’s position in Korea had been firm.

But now, they were in a situation where The Abyss alone was giving them headaches.

Furthermore, Jang Si-hwan seemed to be merely enjoying playing alley boss in Seoul, with no intention of expanding into other regions.

The stage was too small to stimulate Yu Cheonghwa’s ambition, as she had wanted to become part of a greater force.

On the contrary, if she herself took the position of head of the Shinto Guild, the stage would become unimaginably larger.

Then her reason for entering Justice would also disappear. After all, she had admired the organization’s infrastructure and the dungeons it possessed.

“I’m honestly jealous.”

Yu Cheonghwa muttered as she looked at Kang-hoo’s photo, which was close-up on the screen.

Kang-hoo always acted alone, and even when he occasionally had companions, he only moved with temporarily formed teams.

She was jealous because there seemed to be a fitting loneliness that only someone alone could enjoy, and romance within it.

“An assassination request…… would it work?”

That thought suddenly occurred to her.

If it was a business deal with nothing to lose, what if she requested Kang-hoo to assassinate Chu Ye-seong?

Of course, she had had this thought long ago and had made many attempts. They had all failed.

But somehow.

She felt that if it was Kang-hoo, he might be able to overturn the realm of impossibility, just like in the case of Heuksaja this time.

She wondered whether this was really a normal request to make to a hunter who had not even reached level 500.

But there was a strange corner of her heart that made her expect something. As if she had received a lottery ticket with high odds of winning.

Yu Cheonghwa unconsciously picked up her smartphone and tried to find a way to contact Kang-hoo.

She stopped the finger she had been about to move. Having an impulsive thought was fine, but there was no need to act impulsively too.

It would be best to hand a well-organized, complete proposal to Shin Kang-hoo, who was thorough in calculation and cautious.

She wanted to tempt him with a proposal that could catch his interest enough for him to even risk his life.

In any case, the succession battle was an assassination war.

If the leader’s head was taken, everything ended.

That was the Shinto Guild’s old rule and the birth of a new successor.

Level 445.

Amid the unstoppable momentum of growing the level of the Corrupted “Mumyeong” to 70, the conquest of Full Moon Dungeon picked up speed.

In Mumyeong’s case.

Kang-hoo judged that if he raised him well to level 200, he would definitely be able to serve as a tanker who could buy time in an emergency.

So in most situations, he continued using Mumyeong, and thanks to that, the guy was also growing rapidly.

Perhaps because the entire dungeon was filled with the energy of the full moon, the experience was more rewarding than expected.

It was also meaningful that they had chosen to pioneer a new path instead of taking the route they had cleared when they first came.

The monsters they encountered were all ones to which the “first-time” bonus applied, so that much more experience came in.

Sure enough.

Park Dong-jae must have been rapidly growing just like Kang-hoo, because he raised both hands with all his might and cheered.

“Hyung! I hit level 400! I unlocked a basic skill too, and I set my direction toward defense reduction. Want to test it once?”

“You mean penetration defense reduction?”

“Yeah, that’s right!”

In the case of a buffer, once they reached level 400, three basic skills they could choose from appeared.

Leaving aside the names and tooltip descriptions, their directions were as follows.

Buff amplification.

Auxiliary healing.

Penetration improvement and defense reduction.

This was where one’s identity as a buffer was established. The expectations placed on them in a team also changed.

Park Dong-jae’s level 400 was absolutely not low by buffer class standards.

More than anything.

A level 400 buffer was valued as equivalent to a level 600 “dealer-type” hunter.

It was that difficult a goal to achieve, and at the same time, it made one an immensely helpful existence to a team.

“You seemed to practically live in dungeons all the time, and your level says everything.”

“Hehe. What do you think? At this point, shouldn’t I be allowed to brag that I’ve been grinding my body down and growing desperately?”

“No need to even say it.”

Kang-hoo lightly tapped Park Dong-jae on the shoulder.

Seeing Park Dong-jae quickly put on a bright smile, it seemed even a small encouragement gave him a burst of strength.

However, Kang-hoo was curious about why Park Dong-jae had chosen the debuff side instead of buff maximization or acquiring healing ability.

He was a guy who would do well no matter which direction he chose, but Kang-hoo wanted to know why he had made debuffing his direction from now on.

“Is there a reason you chose penetration defense reduction?”

“There is.”

“What is it?”

“Hyung.”

“What about me?”

“I chose it because I thought it would be tailored to you. And I’m confident in the buff side already now, too?”

“You excluded healing because I don’t particularly need it?”

“That’s right.”

“It feels like you focused too much on me.”

“Well, even if it wasn’t something that suited you, hyung, I would’ve gone with debuffs. I want to become an all-rounder buffer.”

“A buffer who does everything alone, something like that?”

“That’s it! If I can use debuffs too, the person hiring me doesn’t need to separately hire a buffer and a debuffer. They can also give all the allowance to me.”

“That does sound like an idea only you could come up with, Dong-jae.”

Kang-hoo chuckled.

He did not say it openly.

But it was a choice possible only if one had innate sense and a certain degree of genius like Park Dong-jae.

That was because the mechanisms of using and handling buff skills and debuff skills were completely opposite.

From target setting to aiming and casting. Every process was so different in nature that it could be called mutually incompatible.

The fact that he was not agonizing over whether it would work or not, but merely seeing it as a matter of choice.

That alone showed how lightly Park Dong-jae regarded his own outstanding talent.

Right then.

Fssst. Fsst.

A monster that had been prowling ahead happened to discover Kang-hoo and quickly closed the distance.

Armor Lizard.

As its name suggested, it was a creature with excellent durability, and one whose outer hide was difficult to pierce easily.

Kang-hoo immediately charged Sacred Leap and also created the mana sword energy of the hidden skill White Sun Slash on his dagger.

In the meantime.

As Park Dong-jae diligently moved his hands, a dark-red light appeared over the entire body of the approaching Armor Lizard.

It was the distinctive color of a debuff. Just as buffs were generally represented by pale white flashes.

The next moment.

Paang!

Kang-hoo, who had finished charging, flew toward the Armor Lizard in one breath, cutting through space.

And right before colliding with the Armor Lizard, he released White Sun Slash, into which he had gathered mana with all his strength, forward.

It was a powerful strike that even carried the propulsive force of Sacred Leap.

However, when he had met the same Armor Lizard earlier at the dungeon entrance and used this combination, the Armor Lizard had not died.

Because its durability was so good, the result had ended at the level of a serious injury rather than instant death.

But.

Sppeoeong……!

“What the hell?”

“Oh.”

At the moment White Sun Slash struck the Armor Lizard, the sound that rang out was not a slicing sound, but an exploding sound.

The exclamations they each uttered were different, but their thoughts as they saw the result were the same. It was the realm of joy that asked, This works?

Thudududuk.

The Armor Lizard’s chunks of flesh, pouring down from the sky like red snow, decorated the ground.

The body of the Armor Lizard, which had momentarily lost a massive amount of its durability, was nothing more than a lump of meat perfect for mincing.

So the effect of the hidden skill White Sun Slash, which concentrated all firepower into a crescent-shaped arc of sword energy, was maximized.

A monster that died by exploding.

Even if the target changed to a hunter, it did not seem as though there would be any exception to this image of instant death.

An extreme-damage assassin!

And a buffer capable of raising the level of buffs and debuffs to the extreme, linked together in the most efficient…….

So-called “instant-death technique” combination.