Chapter 122.

Chameleon Troupe had ties with several organizations and groups, since even they couldn’t manage everything in this huge land .

Of course, most of these ties were only temporary, with Chameleon Troupe being in a clear-cut superior position . In fact, most of the groups they traded with didn’t even know that they were dealing with the organization Chameleon Troupe .

Dark Moon Society was one of many private organizations based in Pandemonium . If I remembered correctly, their leader was from England, and their group was a crime syndicate similar to the Mafia .

“To think that even a brat like you has heard of us . We must have gotten quite famous, eh?”

Although the United Nations and several governments spread malicious propaganda against Pandemonium, Pandemonium wasn’t the hell they made it out to be . In truth, Pandemonium was a city with a sizable number of residents that included humans .

In any case, Chameleon Troupe didn’t care too much about Pandemonium, but Dark Moon Society desperately clung to them in the hopes of elevating their status .

After all, having Chameleon Troupe as their backer would give them quite an edge in the power struggles against other organizations .

As for why a member of Dark Moon Society was trying to kill me, it was likely because they were hired by Lancaster . This was especially likely, considering Lancaster and Dark Moon Society’s leader were both from England .

Getting back to the matter at hand, the fact that Dark Moon Society was Chameleon Troupe’s lackey changed nothing . It wasn’t like I could go up to him and introduce myself as a friend of Chameleon Troupe’s boss . If I did, Boss would probably kill me .

“Then let us start . ”

Heuk Jeon chillingly spoke as his daggers gathered together .

I counted the number of daggers he had .

One, two, three… seventeen .

From the looks of it, he was controlling them with his magic power . If he could control all seventeen daggers skillfully, he was at least at the intermediate-rank level .

“Come, I’ll allow you to make the first move . ”

Despite talking like he was looking down on me, he didn’t let his guard down in the slightest . His magic power infused daggers were thoroughly protecting his body like a curtain of blades . I couldn’t see a single opening to make use of .

“…Fine . ”

First, I used the third medicinal effect memorized by my body .

[Instant Amplification]

In an instant, a surge of heat coursed through my body and my muscles bulged up . My body fiercely reacted at the spontaneous rush of adrenaline coursing through it .

Along with the strengthening of my physical body, my thought processes also sped up .

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath .

“Despair is a part of death . I’ll let you experience it thoroughly . ”

Click .

I shot open my eyes and aimed my gun at the blabbering fool .

Tududududu—

An explosive sound erupted as my 45-round magazine emptied in a second .

But even against such a terrifying firing speed, Heuk Jeon didn’t bat an eye . The seventeen daggers hovering around him like satellites cut down all the bullets .

Clang, clang—

Severed bullets fell on the ground .

Once the initial explosive sound died down, only silence remained .

“Hm… that’s it?”

Heuk Jeon smiled leisurely .

Tsk . I clicked my tongue and pulled my hair up .

Unfortunately, I was a bad match against him .

Although I could fire bullets powerful enough to break his daggers, the problem was that he had seventeen of them .

“…Huu . ”

However, I couldn’t die to him .

If I really wanted to win, I could do so whenever I wanted .

The god-slaying bullet, Misteltein .

Although it would be like using a guillotine to behead a chicken, it would certainly guarantee my survival .

“How disappointing . If that’s all you have to show, I’ll be attacking now . ”

Heuk Jeon was kind enough to announce his next move . I focused my attention on his daggers . A sly smile emerged on his face, and his daggers flew toward me .

I immediately activated Bullet Time .

In this slowed world, I stared at the flying daggers… and felt that something was off .

A single dagger suddenly accelerated toward my head .

But I saw it coming before it even happened .

Perhaps it was easier to predict because the dagger was flying straight .

If I was right, the second dagger that was flying toward my heart would suddenly shoot up to my chin .

For some reason, I could see this before the dagger even came near my heart .

Knowing where the daggers would go, it was easy to deal with them .

I fired . Although my bullets wouldn’t be able to overcome his daggers, they were more than capable of changing their course .

Clang, clang, clang .

Explosive sounds rang out as the bullets clashed with the daggers .

His daggers continued to change direction as they flew forward, and I fired at their predicted trajectory .

Tududuk .

Fragments of my bullets crumbled after hitting the daggers .

As this fierce exchange continued, I realized how I was predicting his attacks .

Throwing daggers with magic power and using magic power to change their course .

This was classified as a ‘long-range’ attack .

My Gift, Master Sharpshooter, put me at the peak of long ranged attacks . As long as an attack was long ranged, I could read its trajectory without being the attacker .

“…Tsk . ”

However, being able to predict their travel course was different than being able to defend against them .

Although my eyes could follow their movements, my body could not .

Bullet Time only lasted three minutes . Once Bullet Time ended, I would undoubtedly be in trouble .

Unfortunately, the flying daggers didn’t show any signs of stopping . Meanwhile, Heuk Jeon leisurely observed me from afar .

As I continued to change the daggers’ trajectory, I thought of the other weapon hidden in my Stigma .

===

[Awl of Weakening] [High rank – Enchant] [Poison attribute]

*An awl that weakens the pricked target .

*Enchanted with the high-rank magic effect ‘Weakening’ .

===

This item was the weapon Tomer got from Wicked’s executive when she was tasked with weakening Rachel . Its high-rank magic effect should work on Heuk Jeon as well .

“Uk . ”

As Bullet Time ended, Heuk Jeon’s dagger grazed my shoulder .

I clenched my teeth at the sharp pain .

Once .

I just had to stick this awl in him once .

The problem was how…

Then suddenly, I thought of something .

Stigma’s magic power .

The power that turned my will into reality .

It wasn’t impossible . Although there were many things I couldn’t do with my limited streaks of Stigma, it was worth trying now that I had three .

I focused all my senses on Stigma .

“…Uk . ”

Meanwhile, Heuk Jeon’s daggers cut my flesh apart, overloading my pain receptors sharply .

Still, I stood my ground and maintained my focus .

What I wanted was to stand behind him…!

Suddenly, Stigma shone brightly, its blue glow leaking through my shirt .

Immediately, the world seemed to turn upside down . As though the world was dismantled and then reassembled, the scenery distorted and changed . In the blink of an eye, I found myself standing behind Heuk Jeon .

I didn’t miss the opportunity I created .

Taking out the Awl of Weakening from Stigma, I struck down on Heuk Jeon’s shoulder .

“…What!?”

Although he showed an incredible reaction speed, it was too late .

I released the Ghost Wolf from my chest .

“Bite!”

The wolf jumped on Heuk Jeon’s body .

“Uk! W-What!?”

He struggled underneath the Ghost Wolf . Meanwhile, I switched the Desert Eagle to shotgun mode, barely holding myself back from collapsing on the ground .

Kiiik—

It only took two seconds for the gun to change form .

This was the reason I attacked with the awl first . Two seconds was a rather long time .

“…Come back . ”

I called the wolf back .

I could see several deep wounds on his body . The Ghost Wolf’s only flaw was its stamina and vitality . Exhausted, the Ghost Wolf jumped back inside me .

“A-Argh, fucking hell . ”

Heuk Jeon glared at me hatefully, his previous leisurely attitude nowhere to be seen .

Although he was trying to raise his magic power, it was near impossible with the effect of Awl of Weakening .

“Try eating this . ”

Now our positions were swapped .

I shoved the barrel of the shotgun at him .

“This might hurt if it doesn’t end quickly . ”

“… . ”

But right when I was about to pull the trigger…

[12 hours have passed since the first cadet completed the Tower climb . The exam is now over . ]

The exam ended, thus saving Heuk Jeon’s life . Immediately, a blinding light engulfed me . I could feel myself being transported to another place .

I laughed .

Who knew someone could be even luckier than me?

Heuk Jeon was it? I would inevitably run into him again, so I could deal with him then .

…I should tell Boss .

**

After the exam, I came back to the waiting room alone, staring at my smartwatch .

“…Oho . ”

[Your understanding of Stigma’s magic power increases . ]

[A new function, ‘Idea Imprint’, has been added . ]

[Idea Imprint – store Stigma’s magic power as a special idea . You can store a total of two ideas . Magic power cost for stored ideas are halved . ]

“Interesting . ”

Stigma received a new ability, obviously because of my use of Stigma during my fight with Heuk Jeon . I immediately knew what technique I needed to store .

The short distance teleportation I used in the previous fight .

Although moving a mere 50 meters used two and a half streaks of Stigma, I couldn’t say it was too costly, as teleportation was an ability that could only be gained through Gifts .

“Hey, Kim Hajin!”

“Hajin!”

I was tapping on the smartwatch keyboard when I heard two people calling my name .

I raised my head . Chae Nayun and Kim Suho were running toward me .

“Ah, w-what happened to your face? How did you become so ugly? Are you okay?!”

Chae Nayun rubbed the injuries on my body with a worried face . But… was she worried about me or making fun of me? It was a bit insulting .

“I wouldn’t be here otherwise . ”

“Was that bastard really an exam overseer? Did you clear the stage?”

I ignored Chae Nayun and turned to Kim Suho . Chae Nayun must have told him what happened as Kim Suho looked just as worried as Chae Nayun .

At that moment, Chae Nayun found a deep cut on my waist .

“Wha! What’s this, it’s so deep… I can see inside your skin!”

I was the one who was hurt, so why was she so anxious?

I calmly stared at Chae Nayun, who was rubbing my arms, shoulders, sides, and thighs .

“Oh right, Kim Suho, the potion . ”

“Ah, I almost forgot . Here, Hajin, it’s a potion for external injuries . ”

Kim Suho handed me a potion .

“Huh? Oh… no, it’s fine . ”

I slowly took a step back . I didn’t really want to apply such a painful potion . Not to mention, external injury potions were especially painful .

“Ah, don’t run away . ”

However, Chae Nayun snatched my hand, then opened the potion and wet a gauze with it .

“Ah, wait . ”

The wet gauze touched my wound .

An excruciating pain sundered through my body .

“Ahuk, ah, hey, go easy on me . ”

“…Come on, it’s not that bad . ”

Chae Nayun smiled, although I really was in pain .

When Chae Nayun finished treating me, my smartwatch suddenly rang .

[Your body has memorized 1 . 5% of emergency recovery potion’s injury recovery medicinal effect . ]

Oh right, recovery potions were a type of medicine too .

For some reason, I’d forgotten about it until now .

…I questioned my own intelligence .

“There . By the way, what happened to Princess?”

“Rachel? She’s… oh, there she is . ”

In the distance, Rachel was crying while desperately speaking to an instructor . I could hear her say, ‘please find Kim Hajin!’

Wiing—

My smartwatch rang again . It really was working overtime toda…

My face became as stiff as a plank of wood .

This time, it wasn’t an alert . It was a message .

A serious one, at that .

[I talked with the other members about the request you made . ]

The sender was Boss .

As soon as I saw the first line of her message, my heart dropped a beat .

“Hey, I need to go to the restroom . ”

“Huh? But there’s no restroom nearby— ah, hey, where are you going!?”

Avoiding Chae Nayun and Kim Suho, I went to the most isolated place I could find and sat down . After looking around to make sure I was alone, I checked the rest of Boss’ message .

[The result . 5 yes, 5 no . ]

An even split .

I clenched my teeth . As I thought, killing Chae Jinyoon was something even the almighty Chameleon Troupe hesitated to do .

However, Chameleon Troupe had a total of 11 members, excluding the empty seat .

[But I have yet to decide . ]

As I thought, Boss was the one who didn’t vote .

[Yes, Boss . ]

I sent her a short message and waited for her reply . However, she didn’t reply for a while . I didn’t know whether she was simply slow at typing or actually trying to keep me on my toes .

As I was getting impatient, Boss’ reply finally arrived .

[Little Apprentice . ]

[You’ve already killed several people . But you were on missions, and they were all evil people who deserved to die . ]

[Your request is different than your missions . This time, you said you wanted to kill someone yourself . No matter what the reason may be, if you commit murder out of your own will, a heavy weight will be placed on your conscious . ]

“… . ”

The tone of her message was solemn . Though, I had a strong hunch that she was only pretending to be kind .

But… as someone who used to write for a living, I couldn’t help but notice a small mistake that ruined the serious atmosphere .

[Will you be able to endure it?]

[Um, Boss, I’m sorry to say this, but it’s ‘conscience’, not conscious . ]

[If you can]

Boss’ message was cut mid-sentence .

I couldn’t help but think I made a mistake, but it was already too late .

Then again, this was probably better than making a similar mistake in person .

[?]

Boss returned a single question mark .

[Ah, I’m sorry . ]

Although I quickly apologized, Boss seemed to be sulking as she didn’t reply back .

Feeling a bit anxious, I called Boss .

Thankfully, she picked up immediately .

“Hello?”

—…What is it?

She sounded unenthusiastic .

I sighed out of relief and apologized once again .

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