Chapter 270: The Black-and-White Fruit (1)
Ayane and Kang-hoo continued to eliminate the clown monsters with seamless coordination.
If Ayane’s earlier “Full Barrage” was a high-powered ultimate skill specialized in single-target sniping—
【Falling Blossom Magic Bullet】
Then “Falling Blossom Magic Bullet” was an effective area-of-effect skill that could ‘season’ multiple monsters at once.
It bore a resemblance to Ban Se-yeong’s “Demonic Magic Bullet,” but the number of subdivided magic bullets was far greater in Ayane’s version.
The clowns, thoroughly seasoned by “Falling Blossom Magic Bullet,” met their fate.
【Blood Flower】
Bang! Bang! Boom! Bang! Boom!
They exploded and died under the effect of Kang-hoo’s “Blood Flower.” Having already sustained critical injuries, they had no means to endure once “Blood Flower” ignited.
There was no taunt skill.No dedicated tank either.
And yet, despite being an assassin-and-gunner duo, their ability to hunt in clusters and handle stray monsters was remarkably smooth.
Observing Kang-hoo’s repertoire of skills, Ayane reaffirmed why Rikou Guild had taken such a keen interest in him.
According to the information she had gathered, among the hunters Rikou Guild had recently shown interest in—
Kang-hoo was the only one who put aside the guild’s characteristic pride and superiority and actively pursued (or rather, pestered?) them.
At the same time, she also understood why Yuji had been utterly overpowered and left helpless against Kang-hoo’s attacks.
Kang-hoo simply had the skill to justify it.
The fact that Yuji had suffered severe injuries from Kang-hoo was well-known among Japanese hunters.
That was why she was worried.
‘Those blinded by twisted greed will never let him be. Will he be okay on his own…?’
She was concerned, but that didn’t mean she could play bodyguard for him.
No, doing so might even put Kang-hoo in greater danger.
“Well, it looks like this area is all cleared. Did you level up at all?”
“Yeah, one level up. 450.”
“That’s great.”
“What about you, Kang-hoo?”
“268. I gained a decent amount too.”
Kang-hoo smiled in satisfaction.
It was a moment that made him realize just how high Ayane’s level was.
In truth, just seeing her “Full Barrage” earlier was enough to tell that she was a high-level, top-tier gunner.
If her “Full Barrage” were aimed at the “Wall of Purity”? Taking two hits would already be considered a great feat of endurance.
Of course, if she were an enemy, the moment she landed the first attack, she would have disappeared from sight.
Right at that moment—
“Ayane, wait a moment.”
Kang-hoo, having spotted something, stopped Ayane just as she was about to do some maintenance.
To maintain her firearm, she would have to put it in an inactive state, which would leave her unprepared for a sudden combat situation.
“Hm?”
“I see something.”
Kang-hoo pointed toward a tree about 100 meters away.
It wasn’t just a single tree—there was an entire stretch of dense forest in that direction.
What caught his eye was a particular tree that was glowing a deep red.
Since the forest was visible, out of habit, he had used his “Empathy - Plants” skill, which detected a hostile monster.
Among all the trees, only one was glowing red.
Such trees tend to attack when approached suddenly, release acidic sap, or even summon hidden minion monsters concealed within their branches or hollowed trunks.
Plant-type monsters were always a hassle, and this one, in particular, was seething with malice.
In truth, since it was a tree monster far from their path, killing it wasn’t strictly necessary.
It wasn’t blocking their route, nor was it a direct threat from that distance.
“What is it?”
“That tree over there. You can snipe it from here, right?”
“Of course I can. If I use “Full Barrage” again, I could probably take it out in one shot.”
“Then take it down. The one with the deep diagonal scratch along its trunk.”
“Oh, the one right behind that white flower?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
Ayane immediately took aim.
She didn’t ask Kang-hoo why he wanted it sniped. If he mentioned it, there was a reason.
Once she fired, she would naturally find out the reason. Whether it was curiosity, instinct, or some deeper intuition—
She simply knew that she was the right one for the job.
With the ability to attack from long range, there was no reason for an assassin to approach recklessly. That would be foolish.
The next moment—
Bang!
A blue flame erupted from the gun’s muzzle, and the fully condensed bullet shot out in an instant.
Before one could blink, the bullet struck the tree, instantly claiming its life.
The tree’s midsection was blown away entirely, splitting it in two.
Screeech!
With an eerie shriek, the tree perished, and something fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Ayane asked,
“Kang-hoo, how did you know that was a plant monster? There were other scratched trees too.”
“I confirmed it with a skill.”
“What…?”
“I’ll collect the loot. I definitely saw something drop.”
【Shadow Step】
Whoosh!
Kang-hoo extended his shadow to the spot where the fallen tree monster lay. The exact limit of 100 meters was just right.
When he swapped places with his shadow, the identity of the loot dropped by the tree was revealed.
“Black-and-White Fruit.”
Just by looking at it, he immediately recognized what it was.
Kang-hoo picked up the two Black-and-White Fruits and returned to his original position.
Ayane looked at him with an incredulous expression.
“You have a skill that lets you determine if a plant is a monster? Isn’t that something specialized for summoners or spirit masters?”
“Apparently, I have such a specialized skill.”
“What’s with that weird third-person phrasing…?”
It wasn’t the first time Kang-hoo had suddenly revealed an unexpected skill.
Still, this one seemed to push the boundaries beyond just natural talent or luck.
“Anyway, there are two of them. Since we agreed to split all loot evenly, I’ll give you one. Are you going to eat it?”
“This is… Black-and-White Fruit, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. An unexpected find.”
The Black-and-White Fruit.
As its name suggested, the skin of the fruit was precisely split into black and white halves.
It resembled an apple, except for its striking black-and-white coloration.
The unique trait of this fruit was that once someone took a bite, the remaining part turned to ash and vanished.
If the pulp touching their mouth and tongue was black, they would gain a detrimental ability.
If it was white? They would gain a beneficial one.
Everything was entirely up to luck—even what ability they received was random.
However, eating black pulp didn’t necessarily mean they were stuck with a bad ability.
If they had a contract with a Constellation, they could choose to sacrifice that contract instead of acquiring the ability.
Because of this, Constellations referred to the Black-and-White Fruit as the “Forbidden Fruit created by the Great War.”
‘If I end up with black pulp… which Constellation should I sacrifice?’
Kang-hoo browsed through his list of Constellations.
Since he had stolen so many, even scrolling through them took quite a while.
He immediately identified a few potential candidates for disposal.
【Fallen Prophet】
【Erases all emotions completely but increases a specific stat by 100.】
Fallen Prophet.
This was a Constellation he had stolen after killing a fixer who had nearly put Yun Sang-mi in danger.
He had never used it because, in exchange for a 100-point stat boost, he would lose all remaining human emotions.
【Supreme Ruler】
【Eliminates all sorrowful emotions permanently. However, it can be activated at will.】
He had acquired this from one of the Cold Wind gang members.
Again, he had never activated it because he wanted to retain some of his emotions.
【Father of Music】
【Listening to classical music increases stamina recovery speed by five times.】
Father of Music.
He had stolen this Constellation after killing the leader of a gang that had threatened him and Yun Sang-mi on a bus ride to Ulsan.
It had been a long time since then, but the memories were still vivid.
While he had used it once to recover stamina, it was useless in battle—he couldn’t just relax and listen to classical music while fighting.
If he ended up with black pulp, he could sacrifice one of these three Constellations.
None of them were particularly useful, and losing them wouldn’t be a big deal.
At that moment, Ayane pressed her lips against her necklace and bit into the fruit.
Kang-hoo had planned to test it first, but Ayane took the 50% gamble before he could.
And—
“Wow! My Full Barrage just got an enhancement! My firepower feels at least 50% stronger!”
“That turned out really well.”
“It’s amazing! I never expected my main skill to get a buff. Thanks! I got lucky!”
“There’s nothing to thank me for. Thank your own luck. We agreed to split everything evenly anyway.”
“Still, I’m grateful. Wait! You’re eating yours now, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then hold this necklace for a moment. It’s my lucky charm.”
“It has a story behind it… doesn’t it?”
It wasn’t an artifact.
Despite being an old, worn-out necklace, she never took it off.
Even when they met at the airport, where she was in full makeup and a luxurious dress, the necklace remained on her neck—completely out of place.
“Yeah. It’s a lucky charm left by my late parents. It has never failed me.”
Kang-hoo didn’t believe in superstitions or omens. To him, they were just psychological safety nets for dealing with failure.
But he did believe in Ayane’s sincerity and her desire to share her good fortune.
So, he held the necklace tightly.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but warmth seemed to radiate from where it touched his palm.
Crunch!
Kang-hoo bit into the Black-and-White Fruit.
Juice filled his mouth with a refreshing flavor as he chewed.
At that moment—
A notification appeared in his skill window, signaling the addition of a new skill.
“Did it work?”
Ayane’s eyes widened as she asked, and Kang-hoo smirked, nodding.
The gift that had come to him in the form of a new skill was—
【Rotational Bind】
【Skill Mastery: Lv. Max】
【If the user is hit by a direct attack within 0.3 seconds after activating the skill, they will perfectly evade and instantly move behind the enemy.
Simultaneously, the enemy will be inflicted with ‘Forced Restraint,’ making them unable to turn away from the front for one second.】
A conditional evasion and restraint skill.
As indicated by the tooltip, the activation conditions were strict, making it a high-risk, high-reward skill.
‘To trigger this, I have to deliberately take a hit within a specific timeframe… That’s really tricky.’
Even for someone as confident as Kang-hoo, this skill felt exceptionally difficult to master.
But if he succeeded, it would allow him to bind an enemy and strike from behind.
For an assassin, this was an absolute trump card.
He would need to practice a lot.
It was a classic high-risk, high-reward skill.
If he gambled on it and failed—
He would be unable to counter the enemy’s direct attack, meaning he could very well die.
It was a skill where the stakes were all-or-nothing.
An extremely intriguing skill had just entered his arsenal.