Chapter 189: Chapter 189

Kenji’s sneer had meaning.

If they fell through the air like this, the assassin-looking guy would have no means of escape.

He had purposely chosen a space with no nearby structures to rely on.

Using a space-manipulating skill through shadows was impressive, but…

Even then, escaping in the vast open air as they both plummeted was impossible.

“Ha.”

With an expressionless face, Kenji scoffed down at Kang-hoo, ready to open a portal.

He planned to slip in alone at the right timing, making it impossible for Kang-hoo to follow.

His calculations were all set.

There are no wings in freefall. An assassin without wings only has hell to go to.

But at that moment.

“Ugh!”

Kang-hoo gestured towards him, and suddenly his body was irresistibly pulled towards Kang-hoo.

It was a kidnapping skill.

Kenji, who had not anticipated such a skill from an assassin, was caught off guard.

Being overly confident was his mistake.

However, he wasn’t just a sitting duck; while being pulled, he used a magical skill to protect his body.

Thanks to that, a protective barrier just barely enveloped him.

Thwoomp!

Kang-hoo, who had tried to stab Kenji in the stomach with all his might, missed.

The next moment.

Crack!

Without hesitation, Kang-hoo embraced Kenji with full force as if they were a couple about to face their last moment together.

“This shit…”

Kenji’s face turned ashen.

He hadn’t opened the portal yet.

The timing was the worst.

“Now what? We either die together, or we live together.”

Whispering into his ear, Kang-hoo’s voice was chillingly calm.

He was neither emotionally agitated nor consumed by excessive anger.

“Are you nuts?”

“Introducing yourself?”

“F*ck…! Are you seriously crazy?”

“Why do you introduce yourself?”

Kang-hoo increased the intensity of his embrace.

Kenji was still enveloped in a protective barrier, making it difficult to inflict any wounds with the dagger.

But he could still entirely restrain Kenji. It was about forcing a choice.

“Do you want to die together?”

“That would be a cheap deal for me.”

Kang-hoo laughed.

Seeing Kenji’s constellation information, he appeared to be well over level 400.

Constellations specializing in spatial manipulation were abundantly attached to him.

Though he wanted to kill him and take his constellations, Kenji’s defensive capabilities were exceptional.

It seemed not without reason that the original text suggested that the only way to kill Kenji was when he was actually dead.

In a world where killing and dying are norms, people are desperate to protect themselves.

Kenji was a hunter specialized not in killing but in ‘not dying.’ In that, he was the opposite of Kang-hoo.

Kenji glanced down. As they tangled and fell, they were gaining more speed.

If they continued this standoff, they would indeed end up dead as Kang-hoo had said.

No matter how much he surrounded himself with protective barriers, surviving a fall from hundreds of meters was impossible.

“Bullshit.”

Kenji finally opened the portal.

It looked like he might escape safely with Kang-hoo, but he had no time to worry about that.

He couldn’t commit double suicide with a madman intent on dying together. For now, he had to live.

He had thought he was detached or indifferent about death until now…

But experiencing it, he realized he wasn’t.

The thought of actually dying made his mind go blank.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, the portal opened.

Boom! Bang! Thud!

Kang-hoo and Kenji tumbled over the cold asphalt for a while.

During this, Kang-hoo did not lose sight of Kenji and swiftly threw a dagger like lightning.

Swoosh! Clang!

But Kenji’s response was quick.

Deeming the existing protective barrier insufficient, he thickly formed a mana shield in front to block the dagger early.

Then, alternating between acceleration and leaping, he tried to close the distance, but Kang-hoo kept opening new spaces to push him away.

Kang-hoo also used his Shadow Step to create variables in the situation.

He calculated that choosing one of the five shadows for a surprise attack would expose a gap in Kenji.

Swoosh! Rustle! Swirl!

But it beautifully missed.

Kenji responded by opening multiple portals corresponding to the number of shadows.

Each shadow that got sucked into a new space vanished from Kang-hoo’s sight without a trace.

“Good. I like that. That’s what you’re known for.”

Kang-hoo nodded at his own thwarted combination.

Kenji’s response was clean.

He had a way to eliminate the variable of shadows entirely, and it matched the answer Kang-hoo had thought of.

A skilled guy indeed had the judgment and ability to respond appropriately to the situation. Kenji was such a person.

“Tricky indeed.”

Classified broadly as a magic hunter, Kenji was uniquely exceptional in defense too.

When the full-force decapitating attack bounced off the barrier, Kang-hoo realized it wasn’t ordinary defense.

The destructive power of a decapitating strike wasn’t something ordinary defensive mechanisms could withstand.

Especially in close combat, where magic hunters are usually treated as corpses. But Kenji was an exception.

Then.

Kenji’s glance shifted slightly.

As they naturally distanced themselves, it was another opportunity for creating space.

There was only one reason he would open a space without an approaching issue. Yuuji must be coming.

“Curiosity and recklessness are a thin line apart. This isn’t good. Maybe it’s time to wrap up and pull out.”

Kang-hoo exerted full force on his legs. Winning against the combination of Kenji and Yuuji was difficult.

Not because of his lack of skills, but because the total synergy they could create together was overwhelmingly superior.

So he changed his target.

He aimed for Yuuji, who was likely to come through that passage.

He never imagined that Kenji, well-hidden, would be mixing it up in a fight with another hunter.

Full sprint!

Kenji ignored it.

Seeing the silhouette of a man entering through the open passage, he unleashed a powerful decapitating blow with all his might.

He also didn’t forget to lay a thunderstrike trap in the passage as a secondary measure. It was a whirlwind attack.

The next moment.

“Why is Kenji so late… Gah!”

Yuuji, who had carelessly stepped inside, felt a heavy pain in his stomach and stopped in his tracks.

At the same time, the person who had stabbed him in the stomach had already vanished to the other side of the passage.

The passage began to close naturally.

“Cough?”

Yuuji was engulfed in deep pain, not even having a moment to think about who had just stabbed him.

It wasn’t just a simple slash with a dagger; it had forcefully ripped through the muscles and flesh of his flank.

Crackle! Crack!

And the feast of currents falling from above was an added bonus.

Kenji, who had realized the situation, had blocked it with a shield, but he couldn’t reverse the wound in the stomach.

“Shit, shi… X.”

Thud!

Yuuji collapsed.

Just moments ago, he had been joyfully tormenting members of the Rikou Guild, enjoying the disparity in strength.

He had entered through the passage opened by Kenji feeling good, only to be struck by an unexpected blow.

Yuuji looked back.

There, across the passage, he saw the man who had been watching him—Kang-hoo.

Behind Kang-hoo, some members of the Rikou Guild who had joined later were also witnessing the scene.

“Yuuji got stabbed! This guy did it!”

“Die, you bastard!”

“Did you think you were invincible forever? Huh?”

They cheered, feeling triumphant at the sight of Yuuji being struck down by Kang-hoo.

Kang-hoo’s consistently calm demeanor felt oddly out of place.

Yuuji and Kenji had clearly seen Kang-hoo.

They didn’t know his name or affiliation yet, but they would find out eventually.

“Cough!”

Yuuji coughed up blood.

The internal injury was worse than he thought.

At this moment, it seemed crucial to quickly leave the scene.

But Yuuji’s misfortune was not over yet.

Snap!

A flicking sound came from Kang-hoo.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Immediately, a fountain of blood sprayed from his stomach.

And then.

Swoosh!

The door of the opened space closed.

For Yuuji, who had come to Osaka with Kenji ‘for fun,’ this was the beginning of a nightmare.

He was in critical condition and urgently needed medical treatment.

After that.

Kang-hoo immediately returned to his accommodations at the Rikou Tower.

He had no intention of explaining the situation to the Rikou Guild members in detail, so he refused any requests for dialogue.

Even considering the absence of the executives, this incident was a significant blow to the pride of the Rikou Guild.

This incident would likely cause quite a headache for the executives, including Fumiya, in managing the aftermath.

Their public commitment to ensuring the safety of Osaka city had turned out to be empty words.

The excuse that Kenji and Yuuji were Named and thus unavoidable wouldn’t really resonate with people.

Vroom! Vroom!

As soon as he connected and turned on his smartphone, which had been off, it vibrated incessantly.

Checking it out, he found a series of personal DMs from Takashi via Hunter Gram arriving one after another.

The DMs he had sent earlier were now bombarding him like an alarm because he had just turned on his phone.

-What are you doing now? Fighting one-on-one with Kenji?

-Kenji is really good at using spatial abilities. He’s also good at defense. It would be tough with your skills, wouldn’t it?

-You’re not dead, are you? You’re not showing up on CCTV?

-Where did Yuuji go? If he’s still alive, report and contact immediately. I’m worried.

-Not picking up? Don’t die!

“What is this madness?”

Kang-hoo looked perplexed.

He knew Takashi was the type to show small concerns and care for close people.

But feeling genuinely worried about his safety felt strange. Maybe they had gotten somewhat close in a short time.

If Takashi had seen him fighting Kenji through CCTV…

He might have felt a sense of kinship based on how he responded to the situation according to pattern theory.

There was no need to doubt Takashi’s sincerity. He was genuinely worried, and fortunately, the outcome was good.

Kang-hoo used the voice channel on Hunter Gram to contact Takashi.

Takashi answered before the ring even finished once.

-Are you alive?

“I am alive.”

-Hey, you…

The rest of Takashi’s words were a cascade of curses that didn’t need to be taken seriously.

Kang-hoo momentarily pulled the phone away from his ear until Takashi’s voice subsided, then brought it back.

-Not many hunters have died at Kenji’s hands. Even if it was out of curiosity, it was too reckless. That.

“Was it that bad? It seemed manageable.”

-You’re crazy. Totally crazy… If Kenji hadn’t been preoccupied with Yuuji, you’d be dead!

“I went knowing he’d be preoccupied. Anyway, I’m alive, so don’t worry too much.”

Life is worth just one coin. Be careful.

Takashi’s last words resonated deeply.

That’s right. There’s no next if you die.

The original Shin Kang-hoo also had a crazy tenacity, like a hunting dog charging forward.

Looking back, his possessed self seemed to have exactly mirrored that.

In that moment, curiosity had outweighed fear or terror, enough to completely suppress any negative thoughts.

Maybe the essence never changes.

It was really fun to face a much stronger hunter. He even managed to land a proper hit.

But, as Takashi said, everyone only has one life, and that’s something to remember.

For someone who died today, tomorrow is just an imaginary time that will never exist.

And he was someone who had reasons to live tomorrow even more fiercely than today.