Chapter 145

The Sea of The Afterlife. Kang Taeshik's soul was falling into the endless darkness.

'...Is this death?' The moment of pain was brief, but the moment of death was agonizingly long.

The seemingly bottomless abyss was pulling him downwards. In this continuous fall, Kang Taeshik's soul was seeing flashbacks of his entire life. Memories were unfolding before him like a panorama. And every moment he was harming someone.

'Killing, killing, killing...'

Suddenly, Kang Taeshik looked down at his blood-soaked hands. That's right. Since awakening his abilities, he has killed countless people with these hands. There was never a day when these hands weren't stained with blood. Even he knew that he was crazy... but he enjoyed it.

That period lasted two years. He had committed petty crimes and been caught by the police before, but it had only been two years since he truly started enjoying killing as a villain hunter.

...But.

As the flashback continued, Kang Taeshik's image in the memories grew younger and younger. And at the end, the memory of 'that day' was finally revealed.

'...Yes, that was the beginning.' Suddenly, a bluish light flickered in Kang Taeshik's eyes even as he was falling into the abyss of death. Just then, he saw a young boy being beaten.

"You good-for-nothing!"

"If it weren't for you! "

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Just die!"

"Aaack! D-dad...! I'm sorry! Aaack! Please! It hurts so much...! Aaack!"

A broken bottle.

A small, messy room.

There, a drunken man was mercilessly beating a young boy. In that memory, the boy's body was always covered in bruises, and he was always crying loudly. 

He was in pain.

He begged him to stop.

He admitted his fault.

But the father's kicks only grew more violent. After years of such relentless beatings, the boy finally realized something. To avoid being beaten further...

He had to become strong and the first step was to hold back his tears. So no matter how much pain he suffered or how scared he was, he covered his mouth and held back his screams,slowly his father's beatings would lessen. Just a little. He also had to minimize his presence as much as possible. So as not to provoke his father.

No, he had to become invisible. If he made a sound, his father would wake up. And then his father would drink again. And then... he would beat him again. So he had to live like he didn't exist in the house. Holding his breath, not to incur the wrath of his strong and terrifying father.

And then one day.

'...Ah.'

The boy realized. There was an easier and simpler way to avoid the beatings.

'Ah, I can just do this.'

Why hadn't he realized it sooner? He should have done this from the start. And seven-year-old Kang Taeshik. With his small hands. Killed his father.

That was Kang Taeshik's 'first murder'. And surprisingly, no one ever found out about it. No, nobody even bothered to investigate. No one could imagine that a small seven year old boy could kill his own father. The police, the doctors. Everyone concluded it was just an accident. Just a drunkard who had an accident while intoxicated.

...And so. The boy who had erased his father from the world with his own hands, looked at himself and realized.

'I'm strong.'

That's right. He was strong. After all, even strong enough to kill his terrifying father.

Realizing this, Kang Taeshik was overcome with an exhilarating thrill. Ah, that's right. I can just kill them.

No matter how scary they are.

No matter how strong they are.

'Everyone dies!'

From then on, Kang Taeshik was afraid of nothing. Because he was strong now. Because he could kill anyone if he wanted to. Of course, he wasn't some psychopathic murderer who would kill anyone indiscriminately. He had simply realized that... murder was also a potential solution for some problems.

As time passed, the Cataclysm occurred and magic beasts appeared. Kang Taeshik was lucky enough to awaken as a hunter. But when he saw magic beasts emerging from dungeons and brutally tearing people apart, he couldn't help but sigh.

'Magic beasts... they're just the same.' They only looked a little different. In the end, whether it was a magic beast or not, anyone could kill. Throughout human history, hadn't a lot more people been killed by other humans than by magic beasts? Honestly, he was disappointed.

But then.

'Kang Taeshik. You awakened recently, didn't you?'

"So what…? I've been an upstanding citizen lately."

"I know. That's why I'm here."

"What are you talking about, you old geezer?"

His sudden visit initially confused him. Woo Jinchul was the detective who had personally handcuffed him for a petty crime he committed in the past. But now he suddenly established some strange organization called the Hunter Association, and…?

"I've been thinking about what to do with you, and I came up with a good idea." Woo Jin-chul gave him a meaningful smile and made a strange proposal.

"Kang Taeshik, I've created a job perfect for you, 'Association-Certified Bounty Hunter.' "

"What's that?"

"It's basically a license to kill, sanctioned by the state."

"...Are you insane?"

"Why? You don't like it?"

"..."

He didn't particularly like Woo Jinchul's smug face, as if he was certain Kang Taeshik would accept his offer. But in the end, Kang Taeshik couldn't refuse Woo Jin-chul's proposal. Because it was honestly tempting. He would be allowed to kill people. And he'd get paid for it.

'Well, killing people is definitely easier and more fun than killing magic beasts.'

That's how Kang Taeshik became a bounty hunter, and in the past two years, he had personally killed hundreds of villains with his own hands.

'Heh heh. I've killed quite a lot.' Kang Taeshik's soul, wandering in the Sea of The Afterlife, chuckled as he witnessed each of those murders one by one. But for some reason. The more he saw the accumulation of their deaths in the flashback, the deeper Kang Taeshik's soul sank into darkness. Hundreds of hands emerged from below, pulling his soul deeper like demons.

'Let go, you bastards! I can't breathe! I can't... Cough...!' Looking back, he realized that the pit he was falling into was one he had dug himself. And then.

[Hahaha. What a delicious-looking evil spirit.]

'...!'

Kang Taeshik's soul trembled at the old man's laughter echoing from beyond the darkness. A primal sense of revulsion washed over him. At that moment, Kang Taeshik realized that his soul was trapped in the center of a magic circle made of red threads. The magic circle held his soul like a spider's web, refusing to let go.

[Come here. I shall personally turn you into a demonic spirit.] Suddenly, a skeletal hand emerged from the darkness and grabbed him by the hair.

'Kyaaaaaaaaah...!'

At that moment, an excruciating pain, as if his limbs were being torn off, surged through him. Kang Taeshik screamed horribly and desperately struggled to break free from the old man's grasp. But even that was merely entertainment for the old man.

[Hehehe. What a lovely scream. You're the perfect ingredient for a demonic spirit.]

'Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!'

[Yes, that's it. Embrace all the sins you've committed with your own hands. The process will be agonizing, but if you endure it... ] The old man grinned, revealing his white teeth, from beyond the darkness.

[...You will be reborn as a thoroughly corrupted soul, eternally experiencing that pain!]

---!

Finally, the red magic circle was complete. The old man's giant hand grabbed Kang Taeshik's soul and lifted it up.

[Kueh-kueh! Now, fallen spirit! You are mine...!]

That was when it happened.

"Arise."

A ray of darkness descended from above, covering Kang Taeshik's soul.

Crack!

The dark power tore through the red magic circle like it was nothing.

[W-what is this...?!] The old man cried out in surprise, losing his grip on Kang Taeshik's soul.

'Ah, this power...' Kang Taeshik, forcibly pulled upwards by the darkness, trembled with a different kind of fear.

'W-what is this memory...?'

Suddenly, memories of his past life, deeply buried within him, began to come back like a long forgotten dream. For some reason, even in those memories, he was... dying, covered in blood. And before his dying self, he saw a man looking down at him with a cold gaze.

"Let me ask you one thing." Meeting those chilling eyes, he had asked,

"What the hell are you? I've never heard of an assassin class being able to use healing magic... let alone debuff magic." But instead of answering, the man had posed a question in return.

"Say I'm a hunter who grows stronger with every battle, how powerful do you think I can become?"

"Hah..." Kang Taeshik couldn't help but laugh bitterly at the absurd question.

Did he really not know the answer?

"Your shadow... is connected to the darkness."

"Death is strength."

"You will become as strong as deep is that darkness."

Two lives.

Two deaths.

But in the end… Kang Taeshik's soul returned to the world once more.

[Shadow Assassin Lv. 1] [Knight Rank]

[...Great Shadow Monarch.] 

Reborn as a Shadow Assassin, his entire body rippling with black energy, Kang Taeshik approached Suho, knelt on one knee, and bowed his head. Then, with an unimaginably cold and ruthless aura emanating from his eyes, he asked in a respectful manner,

[Whom may I kill?]

As he looked at Suho from below...

He realized that Suho's gaze was strikingly similar to the man who had ended his life once before. Suho's cold eyes then turned towards the countless villains swarming from all sides. They were murderers who had slaughtered the innocent residents of this village and taken it over. There was no mercy to be shown to them.

"Everyone. Kill them all."

[...As you command.]

The moment Suho's order fell. The Shadow Assassin, Kang Taeshik, vanished from sight.