Chapter 289: Apple (3)
Celestial Assassin continued speaking to Kang-hoo, who was silently listening.
He could already read it in Kang-hoo’s expression.
The fact that Kang-hoo was listening without saying anything meant he had much to ponder.
“There’s no middle ground for an assassin. Sometimes you need to minimize losses, but there are also times when you need to make a bold move that seems like it’ll result in unbelievable losses!”
“Yes, Master.”
“I’m not finished. You weren’t trying to make such a choice. Initially, you were like a child who didn’t want to give up their own things but wanted to take others’ things. Do you understand?”
Kang-hoo nodded.
Every single word hit the nail on the head, leaving him with nothing to refute.
No one had ever given him such advice before.
They were all busy praising him.It was probably because he had the skills, but the constant praise had made him complacent at some point.
Celestial Assassin had broken the shell that surrounded him, allowing him to see the outside world clearly.
‘I think I need to let go more.’
The thought that he had to do everything alone. And the thought that he couldn’t be in danger.
Kang-hoo judged that such thoughts had made him withdraw.
There hadn’t been any problems so far, but it wasn’t that there really hadn’t been any problems. They had just been buried.
Celestial Assassin added more, as if he still had feedback to give Kang-hoo.
“The essence is to defeat the enemy. You only saw me trying to eat the apple, Kang-hoo. An assassin doesn’t need other considerations. If you defeat the opponent, everything else will fall apart on its own.”
“I will keep that in mind, Master.”
“Today’s apple seems to have been a poisoned apple for you. Get the antidote from Haemi. I’m going to have a drink.”
“Yes.”
“And once you’re done getting the antidote from Haemi, run around the training grounds until you’re exhausted and fall asleep. If you’re not tired or don’t fall asleep, don’t even think about coming to find me. Understood? Then I’ll be going.”
Celestial Assassin headed to the villa without looking back.
The task left for Kang-hoo was simple.
After the additional training with Ju Haemi, he had to run and run around the training grounds until he collapsed from exhaustion.
Kang-hoo understood that it was a message to empty his mind as much as possible and focus only on the physical exertion.
He understood it… but seeing the future where a path of hardship was clearly unfolding made him feel like he was dying.
However, he had no intention of objecting to or questioning Celestial Assassin’s teachings and instructions.
He would just do as he was told.
There were no other options.
Just a moment ago, K was briefly visible beside Ju Haemi.
By the time Kang-hoo headed towards Ju Haemi, K had already left. It seemed he had come by briefly to look around and then left.
As Kang-hoo trudged over with his tired body, Ju Haemi threw a lollipop she was holding at him.
“We’ll start after you finish eating that.”
Kang-hoo briefly considered whether to suck on the lollipop or bite it.
He chose to suck on it.
Having been utterly exhausted from the apple training earlier, he wanted to rest a bit while eating the candy.
His stomach was queasy and he even felt nauseous, so if he had bitten, chewed, and swallowed the lollipop, he really felt like he would have thrown up.
While Kang-hoo sucked on the lollipop.
“…….”
Ju Haemi watched Celestial Assassin’s back as he headed towards the villa. Her gaze followed him.
‘Because I was so focused on the apple, I was too preoccupied with the instruction not to let him eat it.’
Kang-hoo reviewed the training with Celestial Assassin, recalling his words one by one in the context of the situation.
Looking back, it was true that he had been completely focused on the interference.
In fact, as he said, he should have only looked at Celestial Assassin himself.
If he defeated him, he wouldn’t even be able to properly hold the apple, let alone eat it.
But because he was so caught up in what to do with the apple, he couldn’t easily come up with other strategies.
Perhaps the time limit given in the form of ‘5 minutes’ also played a part in narrowing his thinking.
Meanwhile, as the sweetness of the lollipop spread, he felt like his brain was working faster.
It was true that he had put too much thought into the apple. That had become a fatal mistake.
Kang-hoo decided that in similar situations in the future, he would make sure to identify what the ‘essence’ was.
If he didn’t clarify the priorities like this, he would end up with a result that was neither here nor there, just like this training.
Just as Kang-hoo finally put the lollipop he had been carefully savoring into his mouth.
Ju Haemi stood in front of Kang-hoo as if she had been waiting and tied a string to her right arm.
And at the end of the string, she hung a pink doll made by cartoonizing a ‘beaver’, one of the animals.
Looking at Ju Haemi with a doubtful thought, the words he had expected came out of her mouth.
“If you take this doll, it’s done.”
“No matter the means or the method?”
“Yes. That’s the first ‘antidote’ my father mentioned.”
“In that case!”
【Abduction】
Kang-hoo immediately used Abduction on her, but as expected, it didn’t work.
It was a skill he used thinking it would fail from the start. He wanted to see her reaction.
All the information he had about Ju Haemi was that she could control the wind. There was no other information.
Whoosh!
Evading abduction, she executed a back tumble. At first, he perceived it merely as a retreating movement.
Boom!
With each kick of her legs, a strong gust of wind surged towards Kang-hoo.
The wind seemed powerful, though with significantly reduced lethality. The issue was that it pushed Kang-hoo’s body straight back.
Had she intended a proper attack, there would have been strikes scratching his body along with the strong wind.
At that moment.
“……?”
Kang-hoo, who was attempting to pursue Ju Haemi using Acceleration and Leap skills, wore a surprised expression.
His skill casting was blocked.
Suspecting something, he checked his debuff status window and found not one, but three debuffs.
【Acceleration Unavailable】
【Leap Unavailable】
【Space Movement Unavailable】
It wasn’t just a simple wind.
It was a formidable skill, a type of debuff skill that simultaneously acted as both an attack and a restraint.
With all three types of skills completely blocked, Kang-hoo couldn’t use any skills to approach her.
In other words, moving his own two legs directly seemed like the only option.
At that moment.
‘No. That’s not right.’
Kang-hoo, whose thoughts shifted, immediately deployed a skill forward.
【Clone Technique】
He created a clone.
Then, the wind that Ju Haemi kept generating was blocked by the clone instead of Kang-hoo, and for a moment, he was untouched by the wind.
In that instant, all three debuffs on Kang-hoo were dispelled.
Kang-hoo used Shadow Step to escape the wind’s area of effect, then linked Stealth and No Shadow with the Curtain of Technique.
Kang-hoo, who erased his presence and vanished.
Ju Haemi, having stopped her back tumbling, stood still and slowly looked around.
He’s not visible.
He’s not even felt.
But Ju Haemi was confident she could make Kang-hoo reveal himself.
Tap!
She swiftly lifted her right leg straight up above her head and then forcefully slammed it down on the ground.
Fallen leaves and dirt mixed together, shooting up into the air.
Simultaneously, Ju Haemi swung both hands, creating a whirlwind that scattered them in a fan shape.
Kang-hoo didn’t know what form of attack it was, but he lowered his body as much as possible while moving forward.
He always included ‘advance’ in the premise of his movement.
Blocking her attacks using Wall of Perfection and the like was easy.
But doing so would mean pursuing a defensive, stable approach.
Contradicting Celestial Assassin’s teachings, Kang-hoo chose a completely different pattern.
Fsssk!
It was a maneuver almost at the level of crawling on the ground, but he didn’t fall over due to the momentum.
His form was such that even a slight lowering of the center of gravity could scrape his face and torso.
But his strategy worked, and Ju Haemi had no choice but to allow Kang-hoo to approach right in front of her.
‘Got her!’
The moment Kang-hoo reached out his hand to grab the doll hanging from Ju Haemi’s arm!
Kwaaaat!
Sensing Kang-hoo’s approach, Ju Haemi created wind in a vertically downward direction and soared up.
“…….”
Using the wind as propulsion, her body floated into the air as if propelled by a rocket.
With ascent comes descent.
Kang-hoo thought that if he stayed in place, he could aim for her when she inevitably returned.
But.
Kkwang! Kaang!
Her body, creating wind in the air, could easily move in the desired direction.
And she could smoothly adjust her landing position.
He had a feeling the training would be long.
But he had definitely grasped one thing: the way to overcome the debuff wind. Creating a clone solved it.
Kang-hoo’s eyes sparkled.
Now that he had a countermeasure for the biggest problem, all that was left was an aggressive offensive. No other considerations were needed.
After some time passed.
Kang-hoo was finally able to get his hands on Ju Haemi’s doll.
It hadn’t been a very long time, but the training hadn’t ended quickly either.
“Hoo. Haa. Hoo.”
Kang-hoo breathed roughly, almost completely exhausted.
Perhaps because the fatigue from the apple training with Celestial Assassin earlier had accumulated, the burden his body felt was much greater.
Moreover, since he hadn’t eaten Mad Solarkium even once, he had a chronic level of headache.
“You worked hard.”
“You had a hard time. Thank you.”
Ju Haemi left a short greeting and then left without any lingering feelings.
Her footsteps getting faster and faster felt like she was diligently going to her father, Celestial Assassin.
For a moment, Kang-hoo also desperately thought about going to the villa to rest, but he soon remembered Celestial Assassin’s words and gave up the idea.
Run around the training grounds until you’re exhausted and fall asleep.
“Hah…….”
A deep sigh escaped him, but he had no intention of ignoring his master’s teachings.
Kang-hoo forcibly pulled his legs and body, which were almost stuck to the ground like magnets.
Rest was like a sweet temptation, and once he succumbed to the lure, it was hard to escape.
He planned to get his body moving again before it got used to resting. That was the only way to avoid becoming lazy.
“Hoo. Haa. Hoo. Haa.”
Kang-hoo regulated his breathing and started running along the outskirts of the training grounds.
He began running along the edge of the training grounds, almost reaching the woods.
That way, even one lap would cover a longer distance, and it seemed like it would prevent him from having distracting thoughts.
He ran, ran, and ran again.
As his body gradually succumbed to fatigue, paradoxically, his mind became clearer.
“It feels like some kind of unconsciousness that was pressing down on me from within is being completely broken through.”
It was training that would be hell if judged only by his physical condition. But mentally, it was training from which he gained immensely.
Just realizing one fact changed his mindset and approach to dealing with situations.
Was this the picture the Celestial Assassin wanted? He would only know after completing the next training.
In any case, he felt good because it seemed like he had broken through and shattered an unconscious barrier he could never have overcome on his own.
Maybe that’s why, at some point, he even forgot the passage of time and ran hard.
A metallic taste filled his mouth, but even that felt like a medal left by the training, making him happy.
How long had he been running like that?
No, he thought he was running…
“Wake up, you rascal! Your mouth’s going to twist!”
The Celestial Assassin shook Kang-hoo awake, who had unknowingly collapsed and fallen asleep on the training grounds.
He was clearly running forward just a moment ago.
But now, he was lying down, looking up at the high, clear blue sky without a single cloud.
As if he had been dreaming, several hours had passed in a flash.
And.
“Ma… Master.”
“What? You brat, your mouth really did twist.”
His mouth really was twisted.