Rapid Growth (1)

“I have a good method.”

“See? I told you it would happen again. Hand them over, everyone.”

“Haa, it’s not like he has a pouch that endlessly produces strategies. How does he have a method for every single situation?”

“I have nothing to say to that.”

“……?”

With Kang-hoo in front of them, one check each passed between Takashi, Lemon, and Mokomichi.

They were high-value checks that clearly had at least 100 million yen written on them.

When Kang-hoo tilted his head, wondering what this was, Takashi smiled and said.

“We made a bet during that short break earlier. That even if a situation came where we should avoid combat, you would somehow come up with a tactic.”

“You put 100 million yen each on that?”

“That’s right! The Shin Kang-hoo I know would never just pass by prey like this. I was sure you would find a way!”

The bet the three had made over Kang-hoo’s choice was amusing. It probably also meant Takashi trusted him that much.

Kang-hoo was thinking of using Five-Colored Blessing.

Claw Lizards were monsters that relied thoroughly on physical attacks alone.

In other words, if he had immunity that could withstand physical attacks, he could be considered practically invincible.

What Kang-hoo was aiming for was to draw physical immunity as the first immunity.

Then, for one minute, he would gather as many Claw Lizards as possible.

They could not make magic attacks, so for one minute, he would be fine even if hundreds, no, tens of thousands of them attacked him.

Of course, that did not mean this strategy had no flaws. Once one minute passed, Kang-hoo would be in danger.

Because he could not draw physical immunity again. The immunity state would necessarily change into something else.

What Kang-hoo was aiming for here was to obtain “magic immunity” after physical immunity.

The chance was 25%. It could not be called high, but it was still a figure he could sufficiently hope would appear.

After that, once he had drawn as many Claw Lizards as possible toward himself.

Lemon, Mokomichi, and Takashi would pour every area-of-effect magic attack they could onto that place.

Then Kang-hoo, who would be in a state of magic immunity, would be able to take no damage at all despite being in a Team-Kill situation.

And they could sweep away the Claw Lizards gathered in one place, conveniently set up to be wiped out. It was like a table of food prepared for easy eating.

“This is my plan. Listen.”

Kang-hoo continued explaining everything.

He explained the skill structure of Five-Colored Blessing so they could understand the circumstances before and after.

After all, even if they knew, it would not particularly become a problem, and he thought it would actually serve as an appeal.

On the other hand, he felt proud, thinking that he had stolen an extremely useful hidden skill from Vincent Meyer.

The three hidden skills he had plundered from that guy had far too much strategic utility.

So much so that he felt “sorry” for the fact that Vincent had died to him despite possessing such excellent hidden skills.

Right after Kang-hoo finished sharing the strategy about tanking using immunity.

Takashi giggled and held out his hand to Lemon and Mokomichi. This time as well, checks worth 100 million yen passed around.

Kang-hoo burst into a hollow laugh and looked at Takashi. It seemed there had been another bet he did not know about.

“We made another bet before you came. I said the reason Kang-hoo could grow even without doing team-based raids was because he had an ability that let him tank. So I said he naturally had to have some kind of immunity ability.”

“……Does it make sense for an assassin to have immunity abilities? Even if it’s conditional, being able to obtain five branches of immunity is insane, isn’t it?”

“As expected, the world is unfair.”

Lemon and Mokomichi grumbled as they laughed. Their eyes held that much expectation toward Kang-hoo.

Takashi strongly massaged both of Kang-hoo’s shoulders and continued in a smooth voice.

“There are quite a lot of bets. I’ll take them all from those guys and pour them onto you. Wait, my friend.”

“What an amazing creative economy. Anyway, if it doesn’t shift from physical to magic, then we reset the plan.”

“Confirmed.”

“If I break through the 25% chance and get it, we wipe them out immediately. Then we can have proper fun here.”

“Leave it to us.”

At Kang-hoo’s words, all three of them nodded. Their sparkling eyes held anticipation for the strategy.

“I’m going.”

Kang-hoo immediately used Five-Colored Blessing. Then physical immunity was activated. The flow was good from the start.

Paaat!

With Acceleration, Kang-hoo charged into the group of Claw Lizards and provoked them by throwing mana daggers here and there.

Right now, what mattered was somehow drawing their “aggro” toward himself. The more he gathered, the better the situation would be.

As he continued striking as wide an area as possible by mixing Thunderstrike Tremor and Fire Rain, more and more Claw Lizards gathered.

It was a kind of chain process in which a provoked lizard provoked its own kind around it again, and those drawn in then provoked the surroundings once more.

Ukueh! Kueh!

In the meantime, several Claw Lizards that had closed the distance with Kang-hoo swung their forelegs and struck him.

But against Kang-hoo, whose physical immunity was activated, those attacks had no effect at all.

“……That’s seriously broken.”

Lemon, who had been watching, let out a cry of admiration.

An assassin’s invincible tanking!

Even though it was only a one-line description, she could not shake the thought that it was unreal itself.

An existence specialized to produce the most explosive firepower, but extremely vulnerable in group battles.

That was the common notion of an assassin, yet Kang-hoo stood entirely at the opposite point of that common notion.

Kang-hoo was probably the only assassin who could turn an absurdly large-scale group battle into an opportunity instead of a crisis.

Lemon was certain.

There was not only one capable assassin in the world named Shin Kang-hoo, but that kind of all-rounder assassin was probably only him.

“That’s enough admiration! If the 25% lucky chance comes up, let’s prepare to pour in all our firepower. There’s nothing good about dragging this out. Let’s wreck them in one strike.”

Takashi drew the attention of Lemon and Mokomichi, who had been mesmerized by Kang-hoo’s preparation for herd hunting.

A well-prepared table only had meaning when it was properly eaten. If it was kicked away, there was no answer.

Soon, the three entered preparation.

Once the signal came that magic immunity had activated on Kang-hoo, they intended to pour attacks in with all their power.

The Claw Lizard swarm was leaving the reinforcement area and rushing in solely to kill Kang-hoo.

“Awaken. Mages of black darkness called by the Abyss.”

Mokomichi summoned dark mages. They were beings who used black magic based on Dark Energy.

The dark mages, summoned without pause, finished preparing to use black magic specialized in wide-area attacks.

“Huuup……!”

Lemon also entered the preparation stage.

Her eyes turned blue.

The mana that began rapidly gathering around her transformed as it was into a powerful, high-voltage current.

As flashes of light began to be emitted from Lemon’s entire body, Mokomichi, who was beside her, activated dark vision.

Because if he stared head-on at the flashes stretching out from her, his eyes would not survive.

“The angle is beautiful, very much so. Good!”

Takashi also finished warming up.

The wide-area penetration skill, Shockwave Slash.

Shockwave Slash, whose power was maximized when it reached its maximum range, was a skill optimized for blowing something apart.

Gooooo. Kugugugu.

They gathered, and gathered again.

To the point that their mana would be drained in an instant, the three were serious about their wide-area attacks. The preparation was also complete.

What remained was Kang-hoo’s safety.

If magic immunity was not activated, this attack had to be canceled. They could not kill Kang-hoo.

Weet! Weeeet!

The Claw Lizards, whose fury had risen to the very end from Kang-hoo’s provocation, were spewing thick saliva as they radiated madness.

They could not speak, but they had the will to somehow devour Kang-hoo as soon as his physical immunity disappeared.

Right then.

‘Done.’

When Kang-hoo saw that Five-Colored Blessing’s physical immunity had ended and magic immunity had activated right away, he inwardly cheered.

The preparations were complete.

Fwoooosh!

Kang-hoo released Dark Energy in all directions and used Dark Energy Ignition.

It was a signal that they could freely pour any magic attack they wanted toward this place where he was.

The next moment.

Kang-hoo could see it.

The lightning raining down from the sky.

A destructive strike that mercilessly tore apart and blew up the embers of all life.

And the feast of black magic pouring down without pause.

As expected of members of the Takashi Family, the firepower and quantity of the skills they poured out surpassed imagination.

They had the dignity and value of top-tier hunters, to the point that Kang-hoo’s Thunderstrike Tremor or Fire Rain could not even present a calling card.

Meanwhile, Kang-hoo activated defensive skills and endured the attacks of the Claw Lizards that had stuck close to him.

Because now that he no longer had physical immunity, their attacks had become a realistic threat.

In any case, he only had to endure for a little while.

And.

A living hell manifested.

Spurrrng! Boom! Bang!

As if they had been swept up in a domino of massive explosions, the Claw Lizards could be seen bursting one after another.

The Claw Lizards pierced directly by Takashi’s Shockwave Slash lost their lives before they could even realize death.

It might have been different if they had been in the reinforcement area, but the moment they had left it because their eyes were blinded by prey, their future had been decided.

Kwagagagak!

The lightning of death raining down from the sky smashed the Claw Lizards outside Shockwave Slash’s area.

“Yeah. This is it.”

In the middle of the living hell where flashes of death stretched out in all directions, Kang-hoo smiled with madness.

Even though the flashes derived from the lightning were blazing, Kang-hoo did not blink even once.

The expressions of the three comrades watching Kang-hoo, who was in a completely flawless invincible state, held awe toward his ability, which surprised them anew even though they already knew about it.

“Even if it’s conditional, that kind of immunity ability is seriously broken. Takashi, don’t you think so? Unless it belongs to a boss monster, it’s not a skill an ordinary hunter can have.”

“Exactly.”

At Lemon’s words, Takashi also nodded. It was something he had felt every time he saw Kang-hoo from before.

Skills that seemed like something difficult boss monsters found in dungeons would possess somehow also existed in Kang-hoo.

And there was not just one or two such skills.

Even skills well known to the public, such as Blood Flower or Abduction, were skills with mechanisms that ordinary hunters would have difficulty possessing.

“Everyone, think carefully. Kang-hoo is a commodity you absolutely won’t lose on if you invest in him. Us too, and Kang-hoo too. If we can use each other like this, it’ll always be a win-win. No matter what we do.”

At Takashi’s words, Lemon and Mokomichi nodded.

In the acrid smoke of death, the Claw Lizard legion was rapidly disappearing before they knew it.

The Takashi Family’s attack was so powerful that not even the smallest ember of life remained…….

But thanks to magic immunity, Kang-hoo was not affected by it at all, and the sight of him standing tall in the middle of the battlefield was endlessly imposing.

And.

Seeing his level shoot up, Kang-hoo clenched both fists tightly.

For a result gained by investing only two minutes, it was far too unfairly powerful, the finest achievement.