Ch.165165. The Perfect Crime Belt

Monster corpses go into the belt.

Normally, you’d butcher them and classify them as separate items, but when that’s not feasible, you can store them in the belt as whole corpses.

It’s just not very efficient, which is why people don’t usually do it.

Even for boss monsters, you can take the whole corpse and butcher it later if you want.

That’s what I applied here.

Corpses are treated as single items.

Because they’re not alive.

I thought it wouldn’t be much different for humans.

And it worked.

“Ugh. Putting garbage in my belt doesn’t feel right.”

The reason I don’t store monster or human corpses in my belt isn’t because the belt gets dirty—it doesn’t—but because it just feels disgusting.

Imagine having well-wrapped excrement in your jacket pocket.

Even if it doesn’t actually soil anything, you’d keep checking if it’s still secure and worry about it bursting open.

Still, I managed to clean up the rooftop neatly, so I decided to put up with it for now.

My original plan was to use my Login/Logout ability, which has two charges left, to take this guy to the farm and dispose of him there.

Burying a corpse in the Rift Dimension would be easy, and there would be no trace of him in the real world.

But when I was about to do it, I wondered if I could bring someone who’s already dead, which is why I changed my mind and put him in my belt instead.

This way, I don’t have to use a login charge and can still dispose of the body, so it actually worked out better.

I jumped back into my house to avoid being away for too long.

Outside, Team Leader Kim Jin-hyeop and other Hunter Association hunters are probably patrolling the area.

I shouldn’t give any indication that I’ve done something.

I was told I could just kill them if necessary, but it’s better if no one discovers that the assassin has disappeared. That would help in dealing with the remaining SS- rank assassin.

I put the cameras that the S-rank assassin had set up into my belt and finally left the house.

“Ah, I wanted to rest at home.”

Staying home all day after killing an assassin might make someone suspicious.

I should just act natural, like always.

The SS- rank assassin will suspect me anyway, but what can they do?

There won’t be any evidence left.

I look at the hand that held the Demon Sword.

I’ve gotten stronger.

I’m newly aware of my power in this way.

An S-rank assassin couldn’t even use his strength and gave me his back while in stealth.

I even stood behind him for about 10 seconds.

Even though I was quiet and didn’t make my presence known, what an ending—an assassin missing me, looking around, and dying with a sword in his back.

I’m gaining confidence that I shouldn’t worry too much about the SS- rank assassin either.

“But what kind of organization is this Dark Site anyway?”

Now I’m curious about this Dark Site group that sent assassins after me.

I understand they were paid well.

But shouldn’t they be more selective about their targets?

Sure, S-rank and SS- rank assassins could probably take out most hunters.

But I’ve been calling myself an SSS+ rank hunter and I’m quite famous in Korea—they still accept an assassination request for me?

It hurts my pride a little.

I recalled a conversation I had with Team Leader Kim Jin-hyeop.

– “Do terrorist groups kill anyone as long as they’re paid? I thought there were rules like ‘don’t touch America’ or something.”

– “That’s right. They don’t usually target American SS-rank or S-rank hunters. They know they’d face total retaliation from America if they did.”

– “So they’re not afraid of total retaliation from Korea?”

– “…I’m sorry.”

– “No need to apologize. America is just stronger.”

The difference between America, which has the power to dismantle terrorist groups like Dark Site, and Korea, which doesn’t, isn’t even worth comparing—it’s depressing.

If America is number one, all the other countries combined barely match America’s hunter resources.

That’s just how it is.

Still, my performances were all captured on video, and seeing those, they should have thought it better to reject the request and observe me for a while. Yet they came all the way here to monitor and assassinate me.

This is infuriating.

I need to show them more.

Dark Site, Kang Sung-jun, whoever.

Anyone who loses their mind and tries to do something to me—I’ll make them run away in terror if they have any sense left.

—————-

SS- rank assassin Esmer was in a foul mood because of his subordinate’s sudden loss of contact.

“Was he discovered?”

Esmer wasn’t happy with this assignment.

It was too dangerous.

Assassination itself wasn’t difficult.

If he could approach undetected, Esmer, as an SS- rank assassin, was confident he could assassinate anyone.

But that “undetected” part was the problem.

It would be easy to enter the country secretly, gather information, approach quietly, and slit the target’s throat when they enter a dungeon.

He was confident he could take down anyone—S-rank, SS-rank, or even SSS+ rank—that way.

But that wasn’t the case here.

Korea had long become a very unfavorable country for Dark Site and other terrorist groups to infiltrate.

Major hunters from around the world visited almost weekly.

Among them were American SS-rank hunters, and America was watching Korea closely, paying extra attention to terrorist groups.

For Dark Site to attempt an assassination in Korea under these circumstances?

It might not be a big issue if the target wasn’t an American hunter, but Kim Su-hyeon was a hunter that America was watching closely.

Since he wasn’t an American hunter yet, there wouldn’t be direct interference, but if America changed its mind, Esmer’s safety in Korea would be severely compromised.

Above all, entering Korea quietly was impossible.

His and his subordinate’s entry had already been detected, and Korean hunters were guarding the target. The guards were high-ranked enough that they couldn’t be ignored.

They would have to wait for the target to enter a dungeon, but gathering information outside was difficult, making the mission several times harder.

The target likely already knew about the threat.

Even if not precisely, knowing there was danger would make the target stay indoors, naturally increasing the difficulty of the assassination.

An SS- rank assassin specializes in assassination.

His abilities are maximized when stabbing with a dagger from the shadows, but in a direct confrontation, even defeating an S-rank hunter wouldn’t be easy.

That’s why he was dissatisfied.

“Damn it…”

As part of an organization that moves in God’s name, refusing orders wasn’t easy.

When ordered from above, you obey.

Especially when the higher-ups accepted all requests with good cash payment for items, except for assassinations of American S~rank hunters. They weren’t swayed by talk of a Korean hunter possibly being SSS+ rank.

Esmer wasn’t foolish enough to be drawn in by the SSS+ rank bait.

What was certain was that with holy magic and quick reflexes, this target wouldn’t be easy to assassinate.

He needed to kill with one strike.

Otherwise, he might be the one killed.

“Where the hell did this guy go?”

The subordinate who went to gather information had disappeared, but watching from afar, the target didn’t seem to have noticed anything.

He moved according to schedule and acted normally.

He didn’t even approach where the subordinate had been.

Esmer’s caution was world-class.

He observed from a distance occasionally.

Having accepted the mission and come to Korea, he had to complete it.

Though dangerous, gathering minimal information was safer.

His experienced strategy worked.

After treating his missing subordinate as dead and following the target for days, an opportunity came.

The hunters guarding the area were reduced by half, and the target prepared to enter a dungeon alone from the morning.

An A-rank dungeon.

Seeing him carry cameras to record his solo play in the A-rank dungeon, Esmer felt this was his chance.

“I’ll finish quickly and return.”

Assassins hate light.

SS-rank hunters are light.

With so many SS-rank hunters in Korea, whose very existence shines, assassinating there violated all principles.

He would finish quickly and leave.

Esmer used stealth and followed Kim Su-hyeon as he entered the dungeon alone.

And the moment he entered, he saw it.

Kim Su-hyeon slaughtering A-rank monsters.

And in the moment he was distracted, Kim Su-hyeon disappeared.

Simultaneously, he realized how his subordinate had died.

“…!”

Sensation left his arms, and he discovered Kim Su-hyeon had somehow appeared right in front of him, smiling while gripping his neck.

“Got you.”

It was the hunter’s smile that he himself had worn when looking at assassination targets until now.