Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Joy And Hatred (2)

A fresh start with a good mood after killing the Soul Hunter and fortunately obtaining the “Dark Weapon 1.”

Kang-hoo and An Yeong-ho continued to push forward, frequently encountering Soul Hunters along the way.

Thanks to getting accustomed to fighting them, by the second encounter, they crushed the enemy without any mistakes.

Thus, Kang-hoo focused on practicing how to imbue the dark energy into his basic attacks.

An Yeong-ho, following Kang-hoo’s instructions, concentrated on practicing attacks that utilized healing abilities.

Naturally, success wasn’t immediate, and An Yeong-ho repeatedly failed to the point of tears.

From the start, Kang-hoo didn’t expect An Yeong-ho to succeed right away when he gave him advice.

If that were the case, then all healers in the world would be combat healers by now. There’s a reason why combat healers are rare.

Kang-hoo trusted in An Yeong-ho’s talent. He believed that Yeong-ho would be able to achieve it.

It was as if An Yeong-ho, looking at Kang-hoo, was saying, “Of course, you can do it, because you’re my big brother.”

Kang-hoo felt the same. He believed that An Yeong-ho would be able to do it because he was An Yeong-ho.

They passed the first section of the dungeon, often referred to as Section A.

Finally, they entered Section B.

This section was one where An Yeong-ho’s presence was crucial, and Kang-hoo welcomed his companion for this very reason.

It was due to the constant debuff activation.

Starting from Section B, the “Plunder” debuff became active, and the dungeon’s boss monster continuously drained their health.

If it were just a matter of losing health, it wouldn’t be a big problem. They could simply endure it.

The real issue was that the longer they took, the more the boss monster at the end of the dungeon would recover.

In other words, it sucked the vitality from the hunters and used it as nourishment to restore itself. It was like cooking porridge only to feed it to the dog.

Thus, while restoring their health, they had to move forward quickly. It was a tricky two-track situation.

“Hyung*, don’t worry about my health. You don’t need to worry about your health either. I’m really good at healing.”

As soon as the “Plunder” debuff started to drain their health, An Yeong-ho’s healing burst forth.

Kang-hoo was startled by the sudden influx of healing and turned to look at him, only to see An Yeong-ho grinning and giving him a thumbs-up.

“You’re healing really fast.”

“Yeah, I’ve optimized my healing to the max. It’s a trade secret, but I’ll let you in on it, hyung.”

Due to the influence of the “All-seeing Truth” constellation, there was no hiding anything from this guy. He was always straightforward.

Kang-hoo collected his thoughts before responding.

If he said something, and An Yeong-ho activated the “All-seeing Truth,” Kang-hoo wouldn’t be able to lie.

“I appreciate it if you want to share, but I don’t plan on becoming a healer, so why bother? Just keep it to yourself.”

“You’re my lifesaver, hyung. I can tell you anything. Well, except for guild secrets, of course.”

This, too, was An Yeong-ho’s sincerity.

Luckily, he wasn’t crazy enough to suggest sharing guild secrets with Kang-hoo, or the reaction might’ve been different.

“Anyway, I’m really impressed with the speed. How about your mana?”

“No worries. I’ve taken great care with my mana-related items, so I’m good.”

“Alright, let’s keep going, speed is key.”

“I’ll support you!”

Puuuk!

Kang-hoo switched places with one of the shadows behind the Assassin and immediately delivered a Decapitation Slash.

Due to the mana and stamina consumption unique to the Decapitation Slash, Kang-hoo felt his body grow significantly heavier, but he ignored it.

In a fight between assassins, speed is the key.

Kang-hoo swiftly switched places with two more shadows and delivered two additional Decapitation Slashes in succession.

The three Assassins, who had been flailing at his clone, had their necks punctured neatly in unison.

Then…

【Blood Flower】

Finishing off with a blooming flower of blood!

With a slight delay, the Assassins sprayed fountains of blood from their necks, falling forward one after the other.

It was an explosion caused by the blood flowing from the gaping neck wounds, making it nearly impossible for them to survive.

“Wow!”

An Yeong-ho exclaimed in awe.

How many assassins could destroy their enemies with such style and destruction?

An Yeong-ho thought Kang-hoo’s fight just now looked like a scene from a movie, or perhaps a well-drawn painting.

He even thought Kang-hoo resembled a novel’s protagonist.

No matter how strong the enemy was, Kang-hoo would ultimately subdue and kill them… like a true hero!

But his admiration was short-lived.

“Phew.”

Kang-hoo exhaled roughly and staggered slightly, prompting An Yeong-ho to quickly reach out.

Right now, the most important thing was the recovery of Kang-hoo, the man he was supporting.

Meanwhile, Kang-hoo picked up an orange mana stone dropped by one of the dead Assassins. It was worth 10 billion won.

“Hyung*, are you alright?”

“The skill consumes a lot of stamina, but with your healing, I’m recovering quickly.”

“It’s performing well, right?”

“Yeah, I knew it would.”

Kang-hoo nodded in agreement.

An Yeong-ho’s healing was definitely different. It felt like receiving highly concentrated recovery energy.

Because of that, his stamina recovered faster, and the amount restored was much larger than usual.

“Hyung, I like to think I’m pretty sharp, but honestly, I had no idea where you were this time.”

“Seems like my combo worked well.”

“It wasn’t just ‘well,’ it was awesome! It’s like the God of Assassins is right here with us!”

In reality, most of today’s assassins were nothing more than burdens—nicknamed Burdens—and even those were rare.

In An Yeong-ho’s eyes, Kang-hoo, who actively controlled the battlefield and created his own opportunities, was nothing short of impressive.

Kang-hoo, however, didn’t seem to think much of it. An Yeong-ho, on the other hand, thought Kang-hoo was truly amazing.

Despite his skill, Kang-hoo never acted arrogantly or disrespectfully. He possessed the virtue of humility.

“Let’s go. Thanks to you, my stamina is fully restored. No need to waste time.”

“Yes, hyung! Let’s go right away!”

After quickly wrapping up what could have been a time-consuming situation, the two moved forward without hesitation.

They continued their advance.

During their movement, they engaged in several battles.

However, thanks to An Yeong-ho, who took care of their stamina concerns, they fought without worry.

They could focus solely on the combat, allowing them to crush the monsters one after another, and as a result, Kang-hoo’s level rose to 197.

As they moved into the section where the boss monster awaited, known as Section C, Kang-hoo paused for a moment, lost in thought.

Feeling the cool breeze blowing from somewhere, his mind, which had been fully immersed in battle, began to relax slightly.

‘The supply of Hematite has dried up recently. I think I missed out on getting skill books for other classes, too.’

Hematite, essential for upgrading skills and items, was as rare as it was valuable.

In the early stages, he had secured a good amount of Hematite, allowing him to upgrade his skills and items, reaping the benefits.

However, since he hadn’t found any in the recent dungeons, he hadn’t been able to upgrade anything since his last boost.

There were still a few places where he could reliably obtain Hematite.

North Korea was nearby, and there were also a few locations in China that Jang Si-hwan had visited in the original story.

If Kang-hoo had been reincarnated earlier, he would’ve enjoyed the benefits of many more places.

But since some time had passed, part of the fruit had already fallen into Jang Si-hwan’s hands.

Hematite is a byproduct of great strategic value.

At the very least, from now on, Kang-hoo didn’t want a single piece of Hematite to fall into Jang Si-hwan or his crew’s hands.

‘I’ll have to make a trip to North Korea… There’s also the matter of securing more Mad Solarkium. I have enough motivation to go.’

Kang-hoo sorted out his thoughts.

If he went through Master K, he could probably find a way to easily access the North.

Depending on the situation, he might have to collaborate with Moon Hyeong-seo or Hwangbo Hye. He couldn’t do it alone.

‘I’ll also need to get some skill books.’

If he restricted himself to assassin-type skills, it would be very difficult to find skill books.

But if he looked into the less popular classes, his options would expand significantly.

Since he could absorb other class skills without penalty by exploiting loopholes… there was no need to be picky.

‘So much to do.’

It was really a busy time.

If Kang-hoo had lived a life of contentment, he would’ve spent his days relaxed and carefree.

But the cursed fate of the “Savior” kept pushing him to look upwards and whipping him to keep running.

And from the perspective of someone who knew how things would end, he couldn’t just let everything go towards catastrophe.

‘Even if I can only manage to break them in half.’

That thought crossed his mind.

If he could make five or six of The Thirteen Stars defect, how much easier would things become?

Even if he managed to pull Takashi out, The Thirteen Stars would still have twelve remaining members.

Kang-hoo wanted to rid himself of Hunters like Yu Cheonghwa and Emilia, who didn’t really belong in their group.

He also wanted to prevent those expected to join in the future from falling into their grasp.

Jang Si-hwan, Chae Gwanhyeong, Casey, and Vincent were untouchable. They were too far gone, rotten to the core.

But as for the others, there was room to work. Creating a rift wasn’t entirely impossible.