Chapter 323: The Underworld King’s Conviction (1)
“I was more drawn to the purity I saw in you than the fame you’re known for.”
“Purity?”
“Yes. Purity.”
As Kang-hoo calmly spoke in a composed tone, Takashi’s expression grew more serious, listening intently.
Ultimately, what he said echoed what Jang Si-hwan had told Takashi in the original story.
Whether consciously or not, those words naturally resonated with Takashi.
Takashi was more internally unstable than he appeared.
Before getting close to someone, he constantly sought validation of his own worth from the person he wanted to grow closer to.
Moreover, once he did get close, he tended to develop a deep psychological dependence on the other person—a clear vulnerability.
In other words, he was the type who was easy to gaslight, though he would never admit it himself.If Kang-hoo hardened his heart, he could start digging relentlessly into this part of Takashi’s psyche right now.
He could subtly make him hate someone or cause him to doubt the truth of their words.
Kang-hoo’s honest feelings toward Takashi were exactly fifty-fifty.
Fifty percent wanting to use him to pull him away from Jang Si-hwan, and fifty percent genuine affection for Takashi.
So the things he said weren’t outright lies, but neither were they 100% sincere.
And if you ask whether he felt any guilt about that—absolutely not.
To be clear, the current Jang Si-hwan was more likely to become a disaster for Takashi than a help.
Jang Si-hwan was like a runaway train. At the end of his rampage awaited nothing but a massive wreck.
Then—
‘…Was that a hallucination?’
Kang-hoo heard a sniffle coming from beyond Takashi’s avatar—more specifically, from the speaker attached to it.
Could he really be shedding tears just from hearing a few words?
Since the avatar didn’t mimic the act of crying, there was no way to know what Takashi looked like beyond it.
Still, the words that followed clearly carried weight, proving they had struck a chord.
“Even though we started by chance, I’ve come to think of our connection as something meaningful. Shin Kang-hoo, let’s keep challenging each other.”
“No need to say it twice. I’m always down. Just call me. I’ll drop everything and come running.”
“Thanks.”
Though Kang-hoo didn’t know exactly what Takashi was thankful for, he accepted the sentiment with a nod.
Silence settled inside the car.
Kang-hoo visualized the inevitable future—his upcoming battle with Yuji and Vincent.
He didn’t curse his fate for entangling him with them. He accepted it as inevitable.
If he didn’t want to get caught up with them, he shouldn’t have grown at all. Then he never would have met them.
But that would’ve been an even bigger mistake. Without growth, there’s no chance to change the future.
So he saw it as something bound to happen and was now strategizing how to confront it realistically.
‘Even though most of my activity’s been domestic, I already have too many enemies. If I start operating abroad… it’s going to be wild.’
A hunter’s fame directly correlates to the number of powerful enemies they face. The more he grew, the more conflicts would arise.
He had no thoughts of running away.
If he couldn’t overcome even this, the end would be obvious.
Even Jang Si-hwan in the original story had made it through countless crises.
Kang-hoo was certain—if he couldn’t endure even more extreme situations than that guy, the ending would never change.
That’s why he had to face it and fight. There was no other choice—and even if there was, he shouldn’t think about it.
“……”
Lips tightly pressed.
Eyes shut tight.
In the virtual battlefield of his mind, Kang-hoo began simulating his own fight. Battle simulations were essential.
Rain that started as a drizzle from dawn in Seoul turned into a blinding downpour by morning.
Because of that, the city’s traffic volume was significantly reduced.
Someone sat at the top of the Seoul Tower spire, but no one knew they were there.
The rain was so heavy that no one had the luxury of lifting their head to look up.
“……”
The figure sitting atop the spire raised a hand upward.
It was impossible to tell if they were male or female.
Their appearance easily conformed to whatever gender the viewer wished to see.
Srrrrk…
Then, what had just been an ordinary hand transformed into something like an alloy, weaponizing in the process.
It resembled a long, blade-like sword forged from a hand—razor sharp and glinting.
And that wasn’t the only change.
The entire body turned transparent, then into the shape of a lightning rod.
The body morphed freely at will, seemingly without any limitations.
And then—
BZZZZZT!
A bolt of lightning hurled by thunderclouds struck them directly. Yet they remained completely unharmed.
On the contrary, a blue glow pulsed through their body as even stronger magical energy surged out.
Returning to their original form, the person stroked their chin with a troubled expression and said,
“Is this really Jang Si-hwan’s limit? I didn’t think Korea’s power structure would sink into such a mess.”
Even though he had the face of a Westerner, he spoke of Korea’s power dynamics.
Just a while ago, he and his ‘partners’ had been optimistic about Jang Si-hwan.
They believed the Jeonghwa Guild would soon suppress The Abyss and solidify its status as Korea’s number one force.
But now, things had changed. Jeonghwa Guild was entangled with The Abyss so deeply that they couldn’t even spare attention outside the capital.
In fact, like being sucked into a black hole, all of Jeonghwa Guild’s personnel and infrastructure were being consumed by the fight with The Abyss.
“When fate fails to progress, it means a worthy adversary has appeared to create that reason.”
He muttered cryptically as he rose to his feet.
From a fatalistic point of view, the darkening outlook for Jang Si-hwan meant an adversary had emerged capable of swallowing his destiny whole.
Some would call that nonsense, but he had no doubt.
The grand scheme of the world cannot escape the whirlpool of fate. And Jang Si-hwan was no exception.
Then—
Psssst!
Vanishing cleanly from the spire, he reappeared in a completely different space.
A massive screen towered in front of him—so tall it was hard to grasp its height at a glance.
The screen was arranged in a heptagonal formation, and he stood at the center.
His reflection on the screen didn’t show his true form—it was symbolized by an eye-shaped emblem.
The color of the eye was yellow.
A moment later, eyes of different colors appeared on the screens.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
Seven eyes appeared and began acknowledging each other’s presence. None of them knew each other’s real face.
—Let’s begin today’s meeting.
The red eye spoke first.
And the opening topic of this so-called “meeting” was—
—The Shinto Guild in China, whose friend-or-foe distinction is hard to make.
They’re trying to meddle with ‘the secret.’ I think we should intervene directly and eliminate the key individuals. What are your thoughts?
It was about the Chinese Shinto Guild—a faction reaching for a secret the group desperately wanted to keep buried.
These seven entities were now plotting against the powerful Chinese Shinto Guild—a guild so dominant that nothing in China could scare it.
“Dark Energy: 494.”
Having entered the dungeon, Kang-hoo targeted only the Dark Energy monsters that could be hunted solo and acquired more Dark Energy.
It had been a while since he was able to use Dark Energy this freely.
Because he had several abilities that restored Dark Energy, he was able to use it aggressively.
【Suppression – Suppresses the aura of mana, Dark Energy, and divine power emanating from the body.
This is not a passive ability; it continuously consumes mana to suppress those energies. It is effective in avoiding subtle detection.】
Using the suppression option on the Bracelet of the Sea of Silence, he evaded the detection of most monsters.
Thanks to this, he could silently bypass even the more troublesome sections without a fight.
‘This is something only I could pull off.’
It was a moment of self-congratulation, albeit an accurate one.
Suppressing the traces of mana, Dark Energy, and divine power all at once was no easy feat.
The mission related to the third perk of the Angel of the Battlefield constellation had a navigation-like guidance system, similar to finding a set item.
So locating the target was easy, and before long, it was right in front of him.
A level 575 monster.
Its name was Listik.
In German, the name means “cunning”—a name Kang-hoo had used before in the original story.
Its appearance was humanoid, and it didn’t wield a specific weapon—but the reason for that became clear immediately.
The concept behind Listik, as originally designed, was a monster that could copy the appearance and skills of hunters it killed.
In other words, against this monster, one couldn’t expect it to use a predictable range of skills.
Crunch.
He immediately chewed a Mad Solarkium.
Five left.
When he had stocked up twenty, he wondered when he’d ever use them all, but now he was running low.
‘I need to contact Ayane as soon as I get out of the dungeon. Can’t afford to delay.’
Like a chain-smoker growing anxious when their cigarettes run low, Kang-hoo felt the same way.
Mad Solarkium and the Enlightened Mind Pill were essential to Kang-hoo’s overpowered mode.
Without them, his combat performance would drop significantly, making him naturally sensitive to inventory.
“Whew.”
He continued watching Listik, carefully analyzing for any openings.
As expected of a high-level monster, its basic stance was clean. No habits that could be exploited.
Watching Listik stirred a sense of reflection in Kang-hoo.
Not long ago, even facing the level-500 Swarm Queen had made him hesitate.
But now, he was thinking about facing a level-575 monster head-on. He had clearly grown stronger.
‘A single day of my growth is worth several weeks or months for others.’
Seizing future knowledge.
Because time was required to harvest it, each day carried immense meaning for Kang-hoo.
A month or two from now, he would be a different person again.
Perhaps… this moment would become a distant memory of the past, as he grew even stronger. No—he was certain of it.
Just then—
The description for Listik, which had always been marked with a question mark, finally activated.
【Listik is an accidental mutation and will not regenerate in the next dungeon reset if killed.
Quick suppression is required. It is the most dangerous type of mutation in terms of preserving spatial order.】
“Hm.”
This wasn’t ordinary information.
It hinted that Listik held some kind of secret.
Perhaps that was why the Hall of Radiance wanted to eliminate such “variables.”
But there was one thing that puzzled him—why was the Hall of Radiance taking action to eliminate this variable?
It was never part of the original story, and Kang-hoo hadn’t fleshed out such detailed elements of the Great Holy War…
This raised a glaring question mark in his mind.
He might have his suspicions, but nothing he could be certain about.
‘Guess I’ll go all-in on the boldest option.’
He had several strategies for dealing with Listik, but Kang-hoo chose the most aggressive one.
It was a tactic inspired by his training with the Celestial Assassin.
He had learned that an evasive assassin could never beat one who attacked aggressively.
So—
【White Sun Slash】
He pulled out a hidden skill.
A mana-concentrating hidden skill, White Sun Slash.
Kang-hoo locked eyes with Listik as he assumed the preparatory stance.
If Listik tried to harass him from a distance, he would cancel the skill.
Tadadak!
‘He’s aggressive. Or maybe just confident.’
Listik charged at Kang-hoo without a moment’s hesitation.
Flames engulfed its entire body, as if it intended to become a living fireball for a direct collision.
Kang-hoo clenched his lips, gathering mana to the max.
Thanks to the Mad Solarkium, the headache was bearable. But his body still felt the strain.
As Listik rapidly closed in, the worst-case scenario flashed through Kang-hoo’s mind.
If they collided head-on, he feared he couldn’t avoid serious injury.
But he quickly suppressed that fear and reaffirmed his bold stance.
That’s what a gambit was.
There’s no such thing as a move that only benefits you and harms the opponent with zero risk.
If such a thing existed, it wouldn’t be called a gambit. It would just be domination.
‘To the end. To the very end!’
He held steady.
Even as Listik closed in, Kang-hoo held his ground.
And when Listik reached a distance where he could feel its breath—
SKAAAAANG!
He unleashed the fully charged energy of White Sun Slash forward. At the same time, he shut his eyes tight.
Kang-hoo had prepared to endure the damage from the collision because he had a skill he trusted.
Frenzied Healing.
A skill that uses mana to restore health, one Kang-hoo had rarely used until now.
In the next instant—
Realizing that he couldn’t avoid the collision with Listik, Kang-hoo instinctively flinched.
But it was a move he had resolved to make from the start, fully braced for the impact.
Then—
“…?”
Something felt off.
Despite the full-speed impact, the force Kang-hoo felt wasn’t as strong as expected.
In fact, their bodies hadn’t collided directly; instead, something blunt had merely grazed his shoulder.
Because of that, the flames engulfing Listik’s body had only limited effect on Kang-hoo.
Why?
Kang-hoo immediately opened his eyes, and the answer became clear. So simple that there was no room for doubt.