The "Witch of Slaughter" is joining a party to hunt a One-Horned Beast?
Anyone who would have heard that would have cried laughing.
She was someone who could solo a Three-Horned Beast and was a significantly a high level Adapter. If she had actually joined the party, then she would have done so for only one reason.
‘Please take this request.’
Red Fox clan.
Criminals who were well known in the area as ruthless "Adapter Hunters".
She had received a commission from some Adapter that had asked her to "hunt" the guys from Red Fox. The problem was that this request wasn"t officially commissioned through the Black Forest Sect.
The a.s.sa.s.sins from the Black Forest Sect were, in principle, not allowed to receive individual commissions.
That was why she didn"t personally raise her hand, but instead lured monsters so that they would do the dirty work for her. If her ident.i.ty were to be revealed, she would be in big trouble.
‘Ah, are you serious······ I thought luring the Two-Horned Beast would be the end of it.’
Innate skill「Entice」.
It was due to this skill that she received the nickname "Witch of Slaughter". Thanks to this ability, she was able to lure easily the nearby monsters over to her.
Everything was fine and working out according to plan.
That was, until a stuttering, "wandering pa.s.serby" suddenly appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the Two-Horned Beast.
‘Wandering Pa.s.serby? Bulls.h.i.+t!’
Mino looked at the bodies that Kang Hoon and his men were carrying.
Mino was still recalling the scene where the man called Jae Hwan struck down the Two-Horned Beast in one blow. Mino had a clearer view than anyone else of that blow. Well to be fair, as long as you searched, you could find people who could kill a Two-Horned Beast. The problem was how the man killed the monster.
‘He just stabbed and killed it.’
Killing a Two-Horned Beast without using any skills.
Is that even possible?
It was impossible not only for Mino, but for most Adapters as well. If it was the leader of Mino"s Black Forest Sect then it might be possible, but what was someone with such strength doing here.
‘Is he perhaps someone from a great family?’
She had heard that some people from the《Great Lands》would come to《Chaos》as a form of training.
‘No, there are no indicators that point to that. Just what is he here for then?’
Those people from big families usually move while being escorted by many people, wore specific types of clothing, and walked in a unique way, so they could usually be spotted at a glance. No matter how you looked at it, this man was not a member of a famous family. Then just what exactly is his ident.i.ty?
—Skill activation has failed.
—Skill activation has failed.
In order to find an answer to that question, Mino used the a.s.sa.s.sin exclusive skill「Precise Appraisal」. But it was like the skill was broken and it wouldn"t activate properly no matter what she did.
‘d.a.m.n it, not this again. This is why I need better skills.’
It was because of this that she needed to measure things by eye and use a secret item that the「Black Forest Sect」was in possession of in order to reveal the man"s information.
Eventually, she was able to come to two pieces of information.
One, he hadn"t learned any sort of footwork skill at all.
‘His gait is too clunky. If he was strong enough to kill a Two-Horned Beast with one thrust, then he should have learned some sort of footwork or movement technique······"
Footwork and movement techniques were some of the most important pa.s.sive skills to have in the《Great Lands》.
It was because if you ever met an opponent stronger than you, it was important to be able to flee without turning your back. Otherwise, it wouldn"t take for you to die in this place.
However, that man didn"t seem to have learned such a skill at all.
But that wasn"t the only unusual thing about him.
Two, his spirit power levels indicated that he was a「Non-Adapter」.
The man"s spirit power levels surprised Mino. The Black Forest Sect provided their a.s.sa.s.sins with a dedicated tool for accurately measuring spirit power. It was in case a mark hid their spirit power using some sort of skill. A measuring device that not even higher level Adapters could hide from. The measurement of the man"s spirit power displayed on the device was lower than anyone else in the entire area.
It didn"t seem like he had learned any skills and his spirit power was zero.
But even with that, he was able to strike down a Two-Horned Beast?
Mino was in a state of utter confusion.
"Let"s rest here before we go."
The leader, Kang Hoon, dragged three of his men a short distance away and sat down. Soon, a hawk made from spirit power suddenly flew towards the sky. Messenger Bird Skill. It seemed to be for the purposes of reporting their harvest to the clan. Mino sat next to Jae Hwan on a fallen tree.
She settled into silence.
Mino couldn"t stand it anymore and opened her mouth.
"You, who are you?"
"······"
"I, I saw you kill a Two-Horned Beast in one go."
She thought she had asked a thoughtful question, but there was no reply. Mino ignored being polite and quickly asked another question.
“It wouldn"t be easy to find an Adapter who could kill a Two-Horned Monster with a single stab even if you were to search through all of《Chaos》. Where are you from?”
"······《Chaos》, what is that?"
What is Chaos?
"Are you messing with me?"
"Nope."
“Then how could you not know what Chaos is? What"s your ident.i.ty?”
But no matter what, there was no response.
"······do you perhaps not understand what I"m saying?”
Additionally, it looked like he was someone suffering from language barriers.
There was a chance that he didn"t understand what she meant by ident.i.ty. Mino had attempted to explain what the word ‘ident.i.ty" meant.
But it wasn"t easy. It"s not like she had ever seriously meditated on the word "ident.i.ty" before.
The word "ident.i.ty" that she knew of was one derived from the information displayed through the《Interface System》. A window that displayed an individual"s real name, status information, affiliation, and skills.
‘Haa, somehow."
It would be simple to explain to him what she meant by "ident.i.ty" if she were to show him her status window, but Adapters showing others their information wasn"t something that happened often. Disclosing one"s skills and status information was the same as sharing all of one"s weaknesses with the other party.
Besides, she was an a.s.sa.s.sin from the Black Forest Sect.
In the end, Mino decided to share with him non-essential information displayed on her status window. However, when she tried to display her status window, she pressed the wrong b.u.t.ton and a different window than the one she had meant to display appeared in the air.
"This is my ident······"
[Individual Information]
Name : Han Mino
Height : 165 cm
Weight : 47kg
Three Sizes : 36 - 24 - 34
Breast Size : 65D
Keynotes : Has a beauty mark by her left eye and has an eye-catching small speck under her right breast. Other than that, her b.u.t.t…….
"Euaaaaaaah!”
A window with information on one"s physical characteristics!
The startled Mino immediately closed the window.
While nodding, Jae Hwan opened his mouth to speak.
"So that"s how it is. I"ve learned your "ident.i.ty" well."
Her face flushed red, Mino shouted at Jae Hwan.
"Y-you already knew what I meant by "ident.i.ty"!
“I never said I didn"t.”
“Then were you ignoring me this whole time?”
“It"s not like that.”
“Then you talk too! That way it"ll be fair!”
“……my three sizes?”
"No! Your ident.i.ty!”
Looking at Mino throwing a fuss, Jae Hwan" lips twitched.
In reality, there were different reasons why Jae Hwan was hesitant.
Ident.i.ty.
As soon as Jae Hwan heard that word, something shook inside of him. He wasn"t quite sure what to say about himself. On Earth, he was a son to some and a friend to others.
He went to a university and had been a member of some clubs. He had worried about things like finding a job, the current state of the country, and other things about his future.
But he forgot all of those things the moment he entered the tower.
Those memories were instead replaced by the experiences and hards.h.i.+ps he had suffered through with new friends and colleagues.
Yoonhwan, Seoyul, Jay……
But by the time the tutorial game ended, they had all disappeared like a mirage. The memories he had retained as a reward for clearing the tutorial. Now he was the only one who remembered those thirty years of pain and suffering, of laughter and joy. His teammates, his friends— they would continue to live on, but they were no longer his teammates, his friends. None of them would remember Jae Hwan.
Like that, everything and everyone he knew had left him.
The past, the future, and his own destiny.
Despite that, he was still here, alive and well.
But who was he?
"……I have no memories."
It was perhaps the most honest answer Jae Hwan could give.
An honest answer. A lonely answer.
But of course, Mino interpreted that answer in a completely different way.
"You"re taking me for a fool right now, aren"t you?"
"······?"
“Did you think that replying with "I"m suffering from amnesia" in such a serious tone would result in me replying with "Ah, of course, that makes sense!"?”
“I never said I have amnesia though.”
“Didn"t you just say you have?!”
Mino was fuming.
‘Does he think he"s think he"s an「Abyss Champion」or something?’
To be fair, it"s not like there aren"t people here in《Chaos》that suffer from amnesia. But it was rare to find someone like this guy who had lost all of his memory. There would only be one kind of person who had lost their memory to that extent. The champions who came down from《Abyss》, which was located right above《Chaos》. Their Status windows were all broken and displayed nothing.
Real name, affiliation, nothing.
But no matter how much she looked at him, he did not look like a strong warrior from《Abyss》.
Oong oong.
It was at that moment that the sword in Jae Hwan"s hand began to cry. She had noticed that it was a special sword the moment she had laid eyes on it, but for it to even cry as well?
Even more surprising things happened next.
"I get it, so stop whining."
As if answering to the sword"s cries, Jae Hwan fished something out his bag. The sword"s blade split apart like a mouth and began to devour the objects that Jae Hwan gave to the sword. Mino"s eyes momentarily shook.
‘Soul Weapon!’
A Soul Weapon was a weapon that not only grew by consuming other items, but was also a weapon that few people in the《Great Lands》were in possession of.
If his sword was a Soul Weapon, then it would explain Jae Hwan"s ridiculous strength.
Killing a Two-Horned Beast in one blow.
It would be possible if the Soul Weapon"s attack power was at a monstrous level. Indeed, it wasn"t the man"s own strength that allowed him to kill the Two-Horned Beast in one blow, but the sword"s. It was the power of the sword that killed the monster.
Mino quickly took a glance at where Kang Hoon and the Red Fox were resting.
Fortunately, they were talking amongst themselves and had not seen what had happened. Mino laughed at Jae Hwan inside her heart.
‘He sure is relaxed.’
It didn"t matter what the other party"s ident.i.ty was at this point. The fact that he so unabashedly revealing his Soul Weapon meant that he was naive and not versed in how to act before an unknown company.
Soul Weapons may be powerful, but there was only so much one could accomplish by relying on a weapon.
Even if he didn"t die today, someday his lack of caution and immaturity would result in him being killed.
Of course, it wasn"t any of Mino"s concern.
She was only here to fulfill the request given to her.
‘The problem is that I failed to fulfill the request.’
The Red Fox clan members had started to approach them.
Seeing the delighted looks on their faces, it looked like they were discussing some good things.
Mino suddenly came up with an amazing idea.
An amazing plan to put the cheeky b.a.s.t.a.r.d who saw her three sizes against the guys from Red Fox, allowing her to complete her commission.
Seeing Jae Hwan dust off his b.u.t.t as he got up, Mino swiftly grabbed onto him.
"Omo, a moment please!"
"······?"
"I couldn"t tell earlier because of the situation······"
Something soft and squishy pushed itself up against Jae Hwan"s arm. He tried to extricate his arm from Mino"s grasp, but she refused to let go.
"Jae Hwan-ssi! You"re Jae Hwan-ssi, right?"
Jae Hwan looked at Mino with a quizzical look on his face since she started to talk to him in a strange voice.
‘Is she a lunatic?’
He had to stop and seriously consider if this woman was still the same woman who had been bragging about her three sizes just moments before.
"Do you remember me Jae Hwan-ssi? It"s me, Mino! Han Mino! We were hunting together last time······ you said you would hunt with me again the next time around, do you remember?"
Hunt?
He tried to recall where he had heard her voice before, but couldn"t recall where he had heard her voice before. It had only been a month since he had cleared the tower and had arrived here in this place.
“Sorry, but ······"
Kook!
But before Jae Hwan could finish what he was saying, Mino nudged her elbow into his side. Mino winked her left eye. Looking at what she was doing, Jae Hwan opened his mouth to try and speak.
"I don"t know you."
The atmosphere surrounding Kang Hoon and his party members took a strange turn.
Some of them had been laughing. Mino bit her lips until they were white.
‘That"s right, this was it, wasn"t it?’
She looked as though she had failed to do something that she was supposed to do.
Regardless, everything until now had been within Mino"s predictions.
"Omo, you mean to say that you don"t remember who I am?"
"Yes."
"I see, I thought as much."
"······?!"
Jae Hwan furrowed his eyebrows.
Mino opened her mouth with a big smile on her face.
"Jae Hwan-ssi, you don"t happen to have amnesia, do you?"