Chapter 85 – Intrusion (2)

“Where’s the Captain?” Seo Ryeong asked Yorim.

The captain had disappeared from their sight. Suddenly, for some reason, he hurriedly ran up to the highest place and jumped somewhere. This wasn’t their original plan.

“He seems to be moving alone.”

“Huh? What about the plan?”

“Well…I don’t know.” Yorim raised his hands and shook his head.

Seo Ryeong looked in the direction their captain had disappeared. Seol-Hwi suddenly broke into the square and moved away from them in the blink of an eye. This didn’t seem good. What can they do if he got caught like that?

“Well, there has to be a reason.” Jeok Song approached them from the side. He looked around at the others and spoke in a low tone. “If he is moving differently from the plan, then…he found a way to get there faster and safer.”

“Why did he have to do this? Without telling us?” Yong Jin, too, came up to where they were.

It was a situation they couldn’t understand.

“Moving alone. And moving in a group. Which one do you think has a higher probability of success?”

“…”

“…”

No one answered.

It is difficult to infiltrate the enemy’s place alone and succeed in assassination. Even if it was Seol-Hwi, who was so formidable in martial arts. It’s why they moved as a group.

Even if he succeeds in the assassination without any plan, his abandoned crew could be in danger, or something else could happen to fail the mission.

When everyone was silently thinking,

“Well. Let’s see. Baek Yang-chun is moving to his residence.”

“…”

Everyone turned towards the voice that had broken the silence.

It was Imugi. Unlike them, he was calm and was leaning his back on the wall.

“What do you mean?” Yong Jin asked, and Imugi shrugged his shoulders.

“No. It’s too obvious. We know it’s better to move in groups, but you think the captain doesn’t know that?”

“…”

“Even so, why is he moving this fast? I can only think of one thing. I think he noticed something.”

“…”

They didn’t say it aloud, but everyone agreed. What is required for assassination is strong martial arts, limitless patience, and self-control.

And patience and temperance crumble helplessly in the face of time.

An assassinaton mission is difficult to complete as time increases.

“Well…a human is no book. They can do things differently than what they were intended to.”

Even if Seol-Hwi manages to enter the residence of Baek Yang-chun and hides until he can assassinate the target, something unexpected could always happen. Baek Yang-chun could change his mind and drink instead of meditating. Maybe he could come from eating or doing something else, and the mission would fail.

It was reasonable to think that this was the case. But still…

“Then he should have said something. But the captain just suddenly left by himself to find the target. Why didn’t he tell us anything before that?”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Seo Ryeong’s words, Imugi too.

“How should I know? But there is something I noticed….”

The answer was quite simple.

“Did the captain run away so quickly that we can’t catch up to him?”

“…”

Seol-Hwi jumped over the gate and entered the courtyard of the four joined buildings.

The passing time had slowed with the simulation happening, and he knew that this meant an enemy would come.

Three this time!

One by one, the presence of the enemies was revealed in front of him.

First, someone was opening the door in the upper right. Next, a little to the front, Seol-Hwi saw someone opening the main gate. And from above, a person standing guard at a post turned their gaze to Seol-Hwi.

The simulation pointed out that all three were risky.

There were four illusions of Seol-Hwi created. Three ran towards the person who opened the door in the upper right corner. The illusion silenced him when he opened the door by covering his mouth and then cracked his neck.

After that, the three illusions’ movements changed.

The first jumped onto the rooftop, went up to the roof of another building, and leaped behind the man who opened the main gate.

The second leaned against the edge of the wall, waited for the guard to approach, and then ambushed him.

And the third ignored them, stepped onto the wall of the building, and ran away.

None of the three illusions had a commonality. It had to be because of the guard looking down from the watchtower.

The fourth…

Seol-Hwi looked at the last illusion.

Unlike the other three, this one turned around and walked leisurely. So, the guard opening the door in the upper right notices him. After that, the illusion runs into the guard who opened the gate.

The simulation ends there.

<Choose an option from below.>
▶ Remove the person who opens the door on the right. After that, go up to the roof.
▷ Remove the person who opens the door on the right. After that, take advantage of the situation.
▷ Remove the person who opens the door on the right. After that, run to the gate and avoid the sight of the guard on the watchtower.
▷ Turn around, walk slowly, then counterattack.
I’ll bet on this one!

Seol-Hwi wasn’t worried.

He didn’t know how to get out of this situation because the last simulation ended unclearly, but he had to try. Rather than a safe way, he thought a dangerous one would bring him a solution.

<You have selected “Turn around, walk slowly, then counterattack.”>
Seol-Hwi chose the 4th option. He did the same movements that he was shown. With his back turned, he began to walk. And as expected, the person who opened the door from above noticed Seol-Hwi. Seol-Hwi ambled and moved a few steps before he heard,

“You there! Stop!”

“Stop! Who are you?”

The guards were yelling at him behind his back. Seol-Hwi was about to answer, but he saw something shocking.

“…?!”

The guard in the watchtower was looking elsewhere. At that moment, Seol-Hwi knew. This was his chance!

He immediately leaped and went for the neck of the man who was closest to him.

Next, before the body even fell down, he covered the mouth of the second man and thrust his sword into the man’s chest.

The two guards were eliminated in an instant.

But was it because of the excitement that arose in the fight?

“…!”

The man from the watchtower was now looking at Seol-Hwi, his face flushed with shock. And the moment he was about to shout…!

He collapsed.

Seol-Hwi’s sword pierced straight through his heart.

<Time is running out. -2 seconds.>
Ah! The time!

Seol-Hwi looked at the timer as he was trying to retrieve his sword.

32…31…

<Estimated time, 25 seconds.>
He thought he had lucked out, only to see this. His concerns began to rise once again.

Should he go retrieve the sword he threw? Or ignore it?

No. To reach my full potential…

Seol-Hwi moved the corpses into a dark place and pulled his sword out of the third corpse.

<Estimated time increased, +6 seconds.>
25… 24…

<Estimated time, 24 seconds.>
The estimated time and the remaining time were exactly the same.

If I go through this door…

The moment he was feeling relieved, time slowed down again.

An enemy? Someone is coming!

A faint shadow could be seen. Two people. And they seemed skilled enough to feel what happened a couple minutes back. The current location was right next to the residence of Baek Yang-chun. So maybe these are guards protecting him.

This time too, the simulation responded. And three illusions appeared.

The first climbed over the gate and jumped down to ambush them. But the enemies were prepared; there were several fights with the two, and one was killed.

The illusion didn’t fight till the end, and the mission failed.

The second waited by the door. This time, as soon as a person came, he attacked and succeeded in taking one down. But he was countered and suppressed by the other guard.

Shit.

The last illusion…it was a scene where the ambush happened right away as the door opened; their resistance was stronger. The two guards were ready to rush at him. After several fights, one died.

All illusions ended with a time-out. And,

<Choose an option from below.>
▶ Do it yourself.
This was the only option left.

What kind of nonsense…?

Seol-Hwi felt scared, but he knew what this meant. The simulation didn’t find an answer.

It means it had nothing to do with Seol-Hwi’s martial arts or techniques. This was a failure, so Seol-Hwi needed to decide what to do on his own.

What should I do?

Time began to flow again. Seol-Hwi headed to the door. Behind it are two guards, the strongest enemies he could meet here.

How do I handle this?

In an instant, he thought of all the martial arts he had. Techniques that could surprise the enemy. But all of them…

Were intended to be used in a fight.

Suddenly, a person’s face appeared in Seol-Hwi’s mind. The man he killed a while back.

“Hey. What are you doing behind the door?”

Instead of a surprise attack, Seol-Hwi began talking.

“…!”

“…!”

The two guards on the other side of the door were surprised.

Of course they’d be. Seol-Hwi was using the Latent Image Projection technique to turn his face into the man he killed.

“There’s an intruder….” Lowering the sword he had drawn from its sheath, the taller of the two guards answered Seol-Hwi.

“You’re right. There is one.”

Seol-Hwi shoved his sword right into the throat of the front man and ran to the one behind.

“Uhk?!”

His opponent tried to resist, but it was too shocking and sudden. Due to the momentary hesitation, Seol-Hwi used that chance.

Hitting the man in the stomach and chin, Seol-Hwi used both hands to break the man’s neck.

Two bodies fell to the ground.

<Time reduced by 8 seconds.>
Numbers popped up. Seol-Hwi recovered his sword from the fallen guard and swept the two corpses aside.

10…9…

He was running out of time.

Seol-Hwi crawled under the path and moved in the shadows to reach his destination.

<You have successfully invaded.>
<You have completed the time attack mission.>
<With this success, you will receive the 3rd Person Eye.>
“Huk…”

Things popped up in front of him, and there was this unknown ‘3rd Person Eye’.

However, he didn’t have the energy to rejoice in his success.

It was because of the person who entered through the door.

Baek Yang-chun…!

He saw a few words come into view.

<The amount of time being given to Seol-Hwi is being calculated.>
The location of the enemy, the movement of guards, the guarding post shift time, and the number….

<Analyzing…>
Time kept flowing. Meanwhile, Baek Yang-chun crossed his legs and began to sit. As expected, he was cultivating his energy. More time passed.

<Analysis complete.>
<Time: 212 seconds>
<After 212 seconds, the Blue Dragon Sect warriors will notice the intruder’s presence.>
<Seol-Hwi must defeat Baek Yang-chun within 212 seconds.>
212?

Just then, an information window appeared in front of him. And things began to make a little more sense.

300 seconds.

The reason he had to come to the residence of this man so quickly. Because this man had come to his place faster than the information given to Seol-Hwi.

In the process, the guards had to be slain.

And now it takes 212 seconds for the others to notice the absence of the dead guards.

I don’t have a moment to waste. I need to attack quickly.

Seol-Hwi changed his fighting style.

Combat Mode <Turn Based>

The target’s abilities were revealed, making Seol-Hwi doubt his eyes.

[Status]
Baek Yang-chun [Blue Dragon Sect leader]
Health: 9.33 million/ 9.99 million
Internal Energy: 9.22 million/ 9.99 million
Super Master
Combat Power: 12.22 million
What kind of combat… more than 10 million?! The enemy was far stronger than him. Still, Seol-Hwi had no other way out. He had come this far. This is a battle he has to win at any cost.