Chapter 69: Seeing and Hearing Everything

Episode 69

‘It’s definitely better without the delay.’

The original teleport skill required a 5-second casting time. During that time, the caster had to wait helplessly. But the teleport skill after the skill fusion activated instantly.

Five seconds is a long time for a hunter. In the recent situation, if the casting time had been as long as before, the three could have broken through the black barrier and escaped before the teleportation.

‘Moreover, the increased range to 40 meters allowed me to move them outside the castle walls.’

The original teleport skill’s range was 20 meters. However, with the ‘Demonic Constitution’ trait obtained from defeating Forghinae, using dark energy doubled the range to 40 meters. This allowed Kim Jinsung to move the three to a location outside the castle walls, where they couldn’t get help from other Seekers.

‘Now, let’s hunt comfortably.’

Kim Jinsung looked at the three in front of him with a relaxed expression. None of them were combat specialists. On the other hand, Kim Jinsung was currently one of the top combatants among the participants. The outcome was obvious.

“Gasp…!”

“Ahh…!”

Among the three, Choo Chaesu was so shocked that he fell on his backside. Jo Kyunghoon, however, remained calm and tried to pull out his smartphone to call for help from the other Seekers. But he couldn’t.

“…What?”

Jo Kyunghoon started rummaging through his pockets with a confused expression. The smartphone he had put in his pocket was nowhere to be found.

“Looking for this?”

Kim Jinsung solved the mystery for him. Behind Kim Jinsung, black mana tendrils held three smartphones. They were the smartphones the Seekers had been using.

The mana tendrils moved and placed the smartphones in Kim Jinsung’s hand.

“I’ll take these as spoils of war. Now, say goodbye.”

The trio’s faces turned pale, as if they had just heard the Grim Reaper’s final words.

“Aaah!”

“Please, spare me!”

Instinctively, they scattered in different directions. Being hunters, they were fast, and since they scattered in different directions, it seemed challenging to chase them. However, Kim Jinsung stood calmly, watching them disappear.

Soon, mana arrows formed around him and flew towards the fleeing Seekers.

“Ugh!”

“Gah…!”

The sound of the three Seekers collapsing echoed. There was also the sound of something breaking, likely a shield shattering. Notifications appeared before Kim Jinsung.

—

▶ You have killed an evildoer.

▶ You have earned 25 Beast Karma points.

▶ You can acquire the skill ‘Eye of Surveillance.’

▷ Eye of Surveillance: Summons a transparent, single-eyed familiar that shares its vision with the user. The familiar can fly and detect the mana levels of life forms. Each familiar costs 50 mana to summon and maintain, and you can summon one for every 15 intelligence points.

—

Kim Jinsung first checked the ‘Eye of Surveillance’ skill.

‘…Not bad. With my current intelligence, I can summon over 20 of these.’

Twenty familiars would be enough to cover the entire island, allowing him to monitor the Seekers’ movements in real-time.

‘This is a must-have.’

Kim Jinsung saw that the ‘Eye of Surveillance’ skill had taken the slot previously occupied by ‘Teleport’ due to skill fusion. He then looked at the other skills.

—

▷ Warp Hole: Creates a large warp hole entrance upon use. After casting for one minute, you can create an exit at a desired location. The exit can be up to 10 km away, and the distance increases with higher intelligence. Costs 500 mana.

▷ Shield: Creates a thick protective barrier using mana. The barrier’s defense is proportional to the user’s intelligence. Costs 50 mana.

—

‘…I don’t need the Shield skill.’

Kim Jinsung could already create a similar protective barrier using dark energy, which might even be better than the Shield skill.

‘Warp Hole is useful because of its range. Even with the long casting time, being able to move a long distance is advantageous.’

Moreover, the Warp Hole could transport multiple people simultaneously, making it useful in various situations.

‘I’ll take this. What should I discard…’

Kim Jinsung pondered as he reviewed his skill list. This time, it didn’t take long to decide.

‘I’ll discard Draw. I don’t need to rely on sword skills anymore.’

In the first preliminary round, he had to rely on sword skills, but now he could freely manipulate dark energy to create arrows, bombs, and more. He hadn’t used his sword since the start of the second preliminary round, except for a few swings against the Quagmire.

‘Skill management complete.’

Kim Jinsung replaced Draw with Warp Hole and dismissed the notification windows.

‘Time to gather more points.’

Kim Jinsung glanced at the remaining Beast Karma points in the corner.

—

▶ Remaining Beast Karma points: 27

—

With only 27 points, he couldn’t use dark energy for more than five minutes. Gathering points was not optional but essential.

‘But first…’

Kim Jinsung extended his hands towards the sky. Numerous single-eyed familiars formed from his palms, turned transparent, and vanished. However, Kim Jinsung could see nearly 30 familiars floating in the sky.

‘Spread out. Stay high to avoid getting shot.’

The familiars dispersed in all directions, spreading across the island. Satisfied, Kim Jinsung turned towards the underground entrance.

Because Kim Jinsung had eliminated Choo Chaesu, the Warp Hole he was maintaining vanished.

Yang Junggeun was furious upon realizing the Warp Hole had disappeared.

“What?! You found the bodies outside the castle walls?!”

Yang Junggeun’s loud voice echoed across the eastern part of the island where the Seekers stood.

“How did the guys sitting right in front of the Warp Hole end up dead several meters outside the walls?!”

– We… We don’t know either…

“What do you mean you don’t know, you idiots!! How did you not notice three people being moved outside the castle walls?!”

– …

“Your incompetence has ruined my plans!! What are we going to do now, huh?! If we don’t catch all the Thieves within 24 hours because of this, are you going to voluntarily drop out?!”

– …

“Of course, you won’t say you’ll drop out, will you? Damn idiots!”

In the Colosseum, saying you’d drop out voluntarily was akin to saying you’d die. Strictly speaking, they had no reason to be loyal to Yang Junggeun to the point of sacrificing their lives.

After venting for a while, Yang Junggeun sighed deeply and calmed his voice.

“Bring the bodies back to the main castle. All defense personnel should stay inside the castle. Got it?”

– …Yes.

“Tell everyone. If anyone steps outside the castle walls, they’ll be killed immediately.”

After saying that, Yang Junggeun roughly pulled the earpiece from his ear. He glanced at the Seekers who were cautiously watching him and muttered to himself.

“Damn it, how did they get past the surveillance and pull those guys out from the middle of the castle? If Jo Kyunghoon was quiet until just before he died, it means the ‘Eye of Surveillance’ didn’t catch them either…”

“……”

“Is there a teleportation user among them? I didn’t see Kim Jinsung using teleportation in the first preliminary round…”

After muttering for a while, Yang Junggeun seemed to come to a conclusion.

“We’ll have to be more cautious. Move in groups and keep the remaining personnel inside the castle.”

“……”

“Be careful.”

Yang Junggeun’s gaze shifted to Jang Hyungtae and Han Minsu.

“This incident shows that they might come to assassinate key personnel like you. Especially Kim Jinsung, who can hide in the shadows, assassinate, and escape. You know that, right?”

“……”

“Until we kill Kim Jinsung, follow my orders. Don’t get separated and end up dead within 24 hours. Got it?”

Han Minsu nodded immediately, and Jang Hyungtae gave a small nod.

“Damn it… Everything’s messed up.”

Yang Junggeun, muttering in frustration, glanced at Lee Deokgu. He immediately picked a fight with him.

“Hey, what do you think? If you hadn’t thrown away dozens of people, this might not have happened! The defense would have been stronger. Right?”

Unable to bear the constant blame, Lee Deokgu finally defended himself.

“What are you talking about? There are over 100 defense personnel at the castle…”

“You bastard!! So, you’re saying it’s not your fault at all?!”

Yang Junggeun, as if he had been waiting for this, stormed up to Lee Deokgu.

“Over 40 of our comrades died, and you’re saying it’s not your fault?! Are you even human?! Huh?!”

Yang Junggeun’s threatening presence made Lee Deokgu step back involuntarily.

‘Grr…!’

The oppressive aura emanating from Yang Junggeun made Lee Deokgu use all his strength to control his trembling legs. He couldn’t even think of rebutting.

“Say one more word, huh?! I’ll personally avenge our dead comrades.”

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering?! Are you afraid of dying now?”

Despite Yang Junggeun’s continued provocation, Lee Deokgu couldn’t respond. It was clear what the outcome of a fight would be. He couldn’t even withstand Yang Junggeun’s aura, let alone win in a full-on battle.

“You’re worse than trash. I feel sorry for those who followed you and died. Ptooey!”

Yang Junggeun spat on Lee Deokgu’s shoe and turned away.

“Let’s move to the castle! We’ll replan once we get there. Everyone, form up!”

“Um… Excuse me…”

“What?”

Yang Junggeun, turning with an annoyed voice, saw Han Minsu pointing to his ear.

“Someone’s calling for you…”

“Me?”

Yang Junggeun pulled out his earpiece and put it back in. After pressing the ON button, he spoke.

“Who’s looking for me?”

– It’s me.

“Who the hell is ‘me’?!”

Yang Junggeun’s voice rose in irritation.

“How many times have I told you to start with your name or nickname when reporting?!”

– …Are you Yang Junggeun?

“What, what? Yang Junggeun? Who the hell do you think you are…!”

– Sorry, I’m not a Seeker.

Yang Junggeun froze. His eyes widened in surprise as the voice continued.

– I’m a Thief. I have something important to discuss.

* * *

At that moment.

Kim Jinsung, who was heading underground, suddenly stopped in his tracks. With one ear plugged into the Seeker’s smartphone earpiece, his expression hardened.

‘Pung Bitgaram…!’

He immediately recognized the voice speaking to Yang Junggeun.

—