Chapter 1: Escape (1)

Chapter 1: Escape (1)

Kang-hoo, are you okay?

At his colleagues voice, Kang-hoo looked into the single rusty mirror in the detention center that allowed him to see himself.

The rust accumulated along the edges of the mirror also bore unidentifiable bloodstains.

Hmm It seems the daytime labor was a bit too much.

Although his face had turned pale, Kang-hoo brushed it off expressionlessly.

It was due to his congenital mana hypersensitivity.

It happened often enough that it didnt seem like a big deal anymore.

A disease with its own pros and cons.

He had an overwhelming advantage in sensing, sympathizing, and attracting mana compared to others.

However, using mana beyond what his body could endure led to exhaustion and collapse.

In other words, it caused severe physical fatigue.

Therefore, ironically, physical recovery was more crucial for active mana usage.

But in a detention center that only saw its inmates as slaves for mining magic stones, physical recovery was a distant dream.

Can you endure it?

Worrying wont change anything.The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

If its hard, at least say its hard.

Knowing what Kang-hoos silence meant, his colleague soon returned to his own iron bed.

Among the 61 workers in Block 18 of the detention center, everyone except Kang-hoo was deeply asleep.

3 AM.

The perfect midpoint between midnight, the sleeping time, and 6 AM, the waking time, which made it impossible to wake up.

But Kang-hoo, who no longer planned to sleep in his old bed, was exceptionally clear-headed.

Life is hard indeed.

Kang-hoo smirked bitterly.

He didnt find the situation awkward because he had possessed the body of a character from his own novel.

The Handbook of a Villain Turned Savior.

It was a popular work, but it received a lot of criticism due to a bad ending introduced as a twist at the last moment.

The plot twist was that the protagonist was actually an accomplice of the Demon King, leading to the worst ending, where the world fell into the hands of the Demon King.

I deserved the criticism. I pushed it too far, trying to be different.

No matter how much he thought about it.

The ending was so disastrous that it seemed like a lapse of reason.

If he had possessed the main character - who became a villain at the end - Jang Si-hwan.

He would be revered as a hero of the world at this point in time, five years before the ending.

But he ended up possessing the body of Shin Kang-hoo, the unfortunate villain created to oppose Jang Si-hwan.

Having designed him as a cynical character and eliminated all positive aspects, starting with congenital mana hypersensitivity

It wasnt hard to be mentally devastated.

Moreover, in the past few days, the mental synchronization had been completed.

To the extent that he couldnt even remember who he was before the possession.

Of course, the memories of the original work were clear.

The longer the escape is delayed, the more I would miss the golden timing to save the world. Theres no time to waste.

In the story, Shin Kang-hoo started as a villain, but in the end, his essence was that of a savior.

The real villain was the one who aided the Demon Kings Advent and handed over this world to him.

The hero Jang Si-hwan and the thirteen revered hunters, known as The Thirteen Stars.

It wont be easy to find a loophole in this well-crafted world to their liking.

Shin Kang-hoos inherent cynicism overwhelmed his emotions, but he looked further into the future.

Only the accomplices of the false hero could survive at the end of this story, which inevitably led to the Demon Kings ending.

If he couldnt change the future, hed die either way.

Unless, of course, he desired to live.

In fact, he could just slit his throat and die right now without much thought.

But the reason he couldnt do that was because, even in his deep pessimism, he saw a glimmer of hope.

That hope was the only light in his heart that made Shin Kang-hoo decide to leave the world and enter the plot of the original work.

Kang-hoo wanted to hasten that moment to today.

The reason was clear.

It was the day when the guards, who had been busy due to the arrival of a new inmate, were most exhausted.

But that didnt mean he wanted to die meaninglessly in this world that had vividly become his reality, like a disposable tool.

Just then.

[Audacious one. I will give you a very short time to experience the power of a noble Constellation. Prove it.]

Its done.

Kang-hoo smiled.

As a Constellation, he would grant three traits when he selected a contractor.

First, maintain the proficiency of all skills learned or to be learned at their maximum.

Second, the ability to plunder boss skills and make them his own.

Third, the ability to plunder the contract of the Constellation worshiped by another hunter upon their death.

Each trait inevitably made the contractor powerful.

And now, what Kang-hoo could take advantage of was the first trait, skill proficiency.

[Shin Kang-hoo Lv. 10][Class: Assassin][Class Skills Owned: Short Range Leap (Level 1 Acquired) / Lateral Movement (Level 10 Acquired)][Other Skills Owned: None][Unique Talent: Quite Excellent Physical Strength / Remarkably Superior Dynamic Vision]

Though he only had two skills, there seemed to be no problem with the required proof.

The proof he spoke of meant showing no fear in staining his hands with blood.

In other words, it meant to cut off the breath of the guard outside the door.

20 seconds.

Kang-hoo held his breath.

In the meantime, Kang-hoos two skills, temporarily boosted through traits, transformed into something entirely different.

Skill proficiency started at level 1 and only reached its maximum at level 20.

It required a long period of consistent effort and even rushed; it took at least 5 years.

Of course, reaching maximum proficiency had significance. It had to be that way.

Because all the coefficients, such as the duration of the skill, distance, destructive power, etc., skyrocketed significantly.

And now it has changed like that.

The Short Range Leap skill, which would have required luck to cover 1m, became a virtual space movement skill that could cover 12m in an instant.

The Lateral Movement skill, which was just a slight sidestepping, now allowed moving behind the target while in stealth.

Who would think the former and latter were the same skill?

This was the synergy between the character Shin Kang-hoo and the Constellation Dimension Plunderer. It was almost like a cheat.

5 seconds.

This son of a!

Creak!

The guard, feeling offended by Kang-hoos lack of apology and no sign of coming out, opened the door.

After all, it wouldnt be a problem if one prisoner died.

After all, Seoul was the only place where the law still functioned to some extent.

Elsewhere, it was a world ruled by warlords, criminal organizations, and mercenaries.

Might made right.

In the presence of strong power, even murder was not a crime.

Just then, the guard definitely saw Kang-hoo for a brief moment.

Their eyes met precisely.

But as if a person had become invisible, he disappeared from sight in an instant.

It made no sense.

He was only Level 10!

There was no way he would miss a prisoner with a level 35 lower than his own, a mere incompetent.

But then.

Swoosh!

Gah!

Something cold and metallic pierced through the guards carotid artery, penetrating the center of the neck.

A perfect fatal wound, leaving no time to scream.

What Kang-hoo inserted next to the guards neck was a chopstick.

A weapon he had intended to use cleanly to cut his own life when he had no more attachment to life.

However, the will to live had turned the direction of the chopstick towards the enemy, not himself.

And then.

[The contract is established.]

The noble Constellation responded to the call of a Level 10 hunter, worthless and pathetic, a lowly hunter.

Considering the majority of hunters who couldnt even dream of a contract with a high-ranking Constellation like Dimension Plunderer even past Level 100.

It was truly an extraordinary event.