Chapter 30
Post-Assassination Concealment
Concealment after assassination was a traditional stealth method that couldn’t be missed in the Dawn of Assassins.
When players encounter a blocked route during stealth, they often resort to this method.
Some players even opt for a complete assassination of all NPCs.
However,
What Seojun did was, if you were to put it into perspective, an entirely different dimension of play.
He forced NPCs into a defensive stance and killed them before they could see him, turning it into an assassination.
In short, it was a playstyle that physically overpowered the opponents.
– “This guy is doing something only he knows how to do again.”
– “Ah, just do whatever you want lollollollollollollol”
– “Anyway, assassination with no witnesses woah”
– “Assassination just before being spotted woah”
In difficult zones like the Albark Palace, if you hide after an assassination, the absence of the colleague is noticed after a certain period.
If you kill an NPC and then hide in this area, a forced time attack must follow.
“Well, from now on, let’s proceed a bit faster.”
It wasn’t extremely tight.
Because from now on, he was planning to ignore noise.
Clack clack.
Seojun walked down the corridor leisurely.
Or rather, it was more accurate to say he strutted.
And when the Royal Guard approached upon hearing the sound.
He took out a dagger from his inventory and threw it.
“Assassinations are definitely easier than overwhelming.”
After hiding the fallen NPC in a nearby empty room, Seojun continued walking.
– “We never agreed to call this an assassination;;;”
– “A bit bewildering lollollol”
– “Throwing it before seeing it woah”
The corridors of Albark were so adorned that even in the dark of night, their splendor was felt, and they were spacious enough for several people to walk hand-in-hand.
Thud thud.
And from the opposite end of the wide corridor came the sound of imposing footsteps.
The Royal Guards were trained in magic and martial arts.
Naturally, their pride was evident even in each step.
As soon as a knight in uniform turned the corner and a small part of him came into view.
Swish!
The dagger sliced through the air and struck the Royal Guard.
The Royal Guard’s shocked eyes widened, then he closed them.
– “Wow, that was an incredible prediction shot.”
– “Didn’t he see it?”
– “That’s impressive lollollol”
– “He’s just really good at assassinations wtf”
The footsteps in the corridor became one again.
“I like the quiet.”
Speaking as if he were not an intruder, Seojun surveyed his surroundings.
Despite having the blueprint, the Albark Palace was just complicated.
The viewers seemed to have given up on seeing Seojun fail and started giving him directions.
Seojun found the stairs going downstairs and followed the viewers’ directions.
“Wow.”
Seojun whispered in awe, only audible to the viewers.
It was as if a female protagonist were descending the stairs in a highlight scene, flaunting her dress and beauty, with a banquet hall awaiting him at the bottom.
“Really impressive background.”
Seojun whispered and jumped over the railing.
At the bottom of the stairs were two Royal Guards standing on either side, watching the hall.
Seojun fell towards the Royal Guard on the right.
His coat fluttered.
Just before hitting the ground, Seojun threw the dagger in his hand, ending the breath of the Royal Guard on the right.
Immediately, he pulled out the dagger lodged in the guard’s neck and, turning his body, threw it at the Royal Guard on the opposite side.
– “Wow, what did he just do lollollollollollollol”
– “He takes out two like that”
– “Now this is assassination!”
– “He’s just really good at assassination lollol”
When ambushing with a close-combat weapon, there is a forced assassination motion of about 1 second.
And in high-difficulty zones like the palace, if two guards are standing and you ambush one with a close-combat weapon, it’s inevitable that you’ll get caught.
Seojun had only one dagger left.
So he approached as close as possible and threw it to skip the ambush motion, simultaneously drawing out another dagger to handle the other guard.
Seojun explained this point to the viewers.
The viewers were bewildered.
– “Seriously, just throw the dagger and then ambush with a longsword lollollollollol”
– “For real, he’s just missing daggers but has plenty of other weapons”
– “The host is surprisingly foolish. This is nice though”
“Ah.”
Indeed.
Seojun admitted it willingly.
“I didn’t think of that. That method might be easier. But.”
He hadn’t thought deeply enough.
“It’s still not particularly difficult this way. Try it once.”
He said with a grin.
The viewers were delighted.
– “Crazy, he’s always deceiving us whenever he gets a chance”
– “Let’s not give the devious host any chance to deceive us, guys lollollollol”
– “???: Oh, was that a problem?”
– “Oh God, why did you give such talent to this guy”
– “Seojun wins!”
“An assassin always uses daggers.”
Seojun smiled with victory and headed to the queen’s quarters.
– “But if an assassin uses daggers, does that mean that up until now, when I was taking down enemies with a longsword, I wasn’t an assassin?”
– “The host has fallen into self-contradiction lollollollollollol”
Honestly, whether it’s assassination or overwhelming, it doesn’t matter.
As long as the broadcast is entertaining, that’s all that counts.
“Let’s overlook the minor details.”
Seojun’s deep voice rang pleasantly.
– “Yes, hyung.”
– “Yes, oppa.”
– “Ah, if I had said that, I’d have been cursed out. At least he’s good-looking lolol”
– “Suddenly, it’s really annoying. I’m unfollowing immediately.”
Seojun laughed and placed two daggers in a cross position on his fingers.
The other dagger was a kitchen knife he had picked up on the way.
Seojun extended his arm in the darkness and aimed at the enemy.
‘Hmm, it’s the first time throwing a weapon with a different weight.’
But it should be fine.
Swish swish!
The two daggers flew almost simultaneously.
And the two guards guarding the quarters fell at the same time.
“Gah!”
Good, it worked.
A short final cry echoed, and Seojun confidently entered through the main door.
It didn’t matter if he was caught now.
“So, how is my stealth to the Cheat Dice?”
– “The Cheat Dice, who asked for a real-time mission, is crying lollollollollollollollol”
– “A madman who does stealth and assassinations like overwhelming!”
– “Crazy guy! Crazy guy! Crazy guy! Crazy guy!”
[‘Cheat Dice’ donated 100,000 won!]
[Huh? Did I get scammed? woah]
Seojun gave a thank-you message, and the viewers laughed.
And sensing the presence, someone stood up.
Zing!
A red light gathered at the front of the sphere that appeared beside Seojun and shot out as a beam.
The queen, the ruler, had awakened.
“How dare you enter without knowing your place.”
She, who had been lying in bed, was now standing behind Seojun.
[How did the Unknown Master do it? LOL]
[A more chilling fact. He didn’t even use Weak Point Detection. Whoa]
[Minimum bird-like dynamic vision]
And even without aiming for the lightning strikes, the difficulty was too high.
As a result, evaluations of Seojun increased day by day.
Anyway, the conclusion is:
‘People aren’t expecting me to catch the Queen right now.’
Since she was already caught by someone else.
What people really want is to collect all the Shards of Order.
Seojun used Weak Point Detection to see the Shards and traced the Queen’s Mirror with his sword.
The Queen’s Mirror was a reflective glass sphere, a special weapon used by the Queen.
It moved freely through the air, reflecting attacks or using embedded magic, much like an orb.
‘They said Weak Point Detection made the Queen’s difficulty drop significantly.’
Clang!
The Queen’s Mirror shattered, and glass shards scattered.
Due to special forces, numerous pieces were fixed in mid-air, obscuring Seojun’s vision.
“How dare you touch my belongings!”
Seojun saw the Queen’s arm swinging from the other side through the mirror shards.
A dagger flew.
Piercing through the glass debris, heading straight for Seojun.
The dagger was reflected in the mirror, stretching like a mirage and distracting Seojun’s gaze.
‘But there’s only one real one.’
And Seojun had never missed an enemy’s attack during battle.
Bang!
The speeding dagger was blocked by Seojun’s dagger.
And in response, Seojun threw his dagger.
“Ah…”
The last remaining HP bar decreased.
The Queen spat out a brief dying cry and fell with a blank stare at Seojun.
– Cleanly done woah
– The class is really different lol lol lol lol
– Want. No damage, no skills. Madness woah
– Let’s go now!
“It’s over.”
The notification sound rang.
[The Queen Arietta has been defeated.]
[Obtained Shard of Order (4/4).]
[You have gathered all the Shards of Order. The hidden scenario ‘Choice’ will proceed.]
A crow flew to Seojun, who was reading the text, and gently landed on his shoulder.
A letter was hanging from the crow’s leg.
“Is this from the branch manager?”
As Seojun removed the paper from the leg, the crow fluttered away through the balcony.
He unfolded the rolled-up letter.
It contained instructions to come somewhere for a reward.
“So, it was sent by the branch manager.”
It seemed that going there would start the scenario.
– I waited a week to see this!
– Choice? What choice are they talking about?
– Please don’t go offline. Please don’t go offline. Please don’t go offline.
The location was a derelict factory on the southern outskirts of Altheon, 4th floor.
Essentially, it was the edge of the game map.
“Well then, let’s check it out.”
Seojun exited Albark Palace nonchalantly as if nothing had happened and headed toward the marked location while checking the map.
He had to pass through District 4 where the commoners lived and go further down.
– The boss of the Calamity doesn’t do this?
– Yeah, strike while the iron is hot!
– Phew. Almost started a riot.
When Seojun arrived at the marked location, a cutscene started.
“Why did you call me?”
Arthur, the branch manager of Altheon, appeared from behind a machine turned to scrap.
He was quite far from Seojun.
“Unknown. You finally took down the Queen.”
“And?”
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“Damn it. Didn’t I tell you? If you capture her hastily, the damage would be worse. The Calamity guys are coming.”
Arthur spoke politely, but he couldn’t completely hide the boiling anger inside.
Arthur’s hand trembled with excitement.
“We also requested support, but there’s no response yet. I told you to hold out until then. Couldn’t you wait?”
Still, Seojun, or rather the protagonist in the cutscene, remained composed.
“That’s your problem, not mine. And if more of them come? Then I’ll just take down more of them.”
– Is this not a cutscene, but the boss moving? LOL
– Four down lollollollollollol
– Maybe it’s because of choosing that option during the last chat with Arthur.
– Oh dear…
“Right. You were not our brother. You didn’t even take a mission.”
Arthur’s trembling hand stopped.
Then Arthur smiled kindly as if he hadn’t been excited at all.
“But you’re strong, Unknown. You’re so captivating that even if you disrupt the order beyond my control, it can’t be helped.”
Control and order.
Words that should not come from the Assassins’ mouths.
At that moment, the protagonist sensed something strange and went into combat mode.
Clang!
Arthur threw a dagger, and the protagonist dodged it and glared at Arthur.
“What is this?”
“Hah. I knew this wouldn’t be enough. You’re indeed a man who killed four of my comrades.”
“Comrades? Don’t tell me…”
The protagonist’s face grimaced.
“Exactly as you guessed. I was in a cooperative relationship with the Calamity’s rulers.”
– Damn, the back is so shady.
– Why is the Assassin branch manager?
– Is he the final boss?
– So, this was the true ending. No wonder.
“The reason for the cooperation was simple. If we fought to destroy each other, the answer is obvious. Mutual destruction. But from the moment you, the Western Butcher, arrived, the balance of this city was broken. So, I thought. I’ll use you to kill the other rulers and replace them with my subordinates.”
The reason why the Shard of Order isn’t obtained when receiving a mission was revealed.
Receiving a mission meant moving according to Arthur’s will, which was inconsistent with the conditions for a hidden quest.
“But you acted on your own. So the plan got messed up, and it took time to take over Altheon.”
Arthur smiled and held a button in his hand.
“Anyway, you did eliminate them, so I’m grateful. Now, farewell.”
Arthur took the stairs next to him and went up to the upper floor.
At the same time, an explosion sound echoed from below.
Fire surged up, and floors began to collapse one after another.
The protagonist was on the 4th floor.
Instead of following Arthur, he chose to leap outside.
However, he was running too fast and fell due to the height, injuring himself.
Arthur, who was on the rooftop, smiled and threw a dagger at the protagonist, giving a triumphant smile.
And the protagonist closed his eyes, thinking he was going to die.
Seojun thought the same.
But from a third-person perspective, a scene unfolded where a woman with a black silhouette appeared, deflected the dagger, and took the protagonist away.
“Hm. A traitor? Didn’t expect this, but it’ll be fun to play tag.”
Arthur was relaxed.
Altheon was already close to being his.
Arthur whistled, and a crow flew in.
Arthur took out the paper from the crow’s leg and wrote a letter.
[The Unknown has betrayed us and joined the Calamity. From now on, designate the Unknown as the top priority assassination target.]
The crow flew away, and the cutscene ended.
* * *
Pant pant.
Seojun was now carried on someone’s back, gasping for breath.
He still didn’t have any strength.
At that moment.
Ding.
A window appeared before his eyes.
Seojun’s eyes lit up upon seeing this.
So this was it?
“This could be interesting.”
– Wow
– Truly legendary lollollollollollollollol
– Hidden quest is insane woah
– Experience it yourself, users!
– Ah lol, the quest for user education ended up with the boss who is insanely good lololol
