Chapter 30

After an assassination came concealment.

It was a classic infiltration method that could never be left out of the Assassin Guild's reputation missions.

Whenever players hit a dead end during stealth gameplay, they frequently chose this method.

Some people even played by assassinating every NPC in the map.

But—

What Seo Jun was doing was technically a little different.

The NPCs had already entered alert mode, but he killed them before they could actually see him, turning it into an assassination instead.

In other words, he was crushing everything through pure physical skill.

-This guy's doing things only he can pull off again.

-Just do everything yourself already lololol.

-As long as there are no witnesses, it's assassination lol.

-Killing them right before they see you counts too lol.

In dangerous zones like Alverb Palace, if a murdered NPC disappeared, the others would eventually notice their absence after a certain amount of time.

Meaning once he killed and hid someone here, it automatically became a time attack.

"Hm. From here on, let's speed things up a little."

It wasn't actually that tight.

Because from this point onward, Seo Jun had no intention of caring about noise anymore.

Click. Clack.

Seo Jun calmly walked down the corridor.

No—swaggered was the more accurate word.

And whenever a royal guard approached after hearing the footsteps—

He simply pulled a dagger from his inventory and threw it.

"Assassination's definitely easier than direct combat."

After hiding the collapsed NPC inside a nearby empty room, Seo Jun resumed walking.

-We never agreed to call THAT assassination, seriously.

-This is absurd lol.

-He throws daggers before they even appear on screen lol.

Even in the dark of night, Alverb Palace's corridors were lavishly decorated enough for their splendor to stand out. The hallways were wide enough for several couples to walk side by side holding hands.

Step. Step.

Then elegant footsteps echoed from the opposite end of the corridor.

The royal guards were an elite force trained in both magic and martial arts.

Naturally, every step they took overflowed with pride.

And the moment even the tiniest part of the knight's uniform entered Seo Jun's field of vision—

Swoooosh!

A dagger cut through the air and embedded itself into the royal guard.

The guard opened and closed his mouth with shocked eyes before collapsing.

-Damn, that prediction shot was insane.

-He didn't even fully see him, did he?

-That makes it even crazier lol.

-He just threw it on instinct lol.

Once again, only a single set of footsteps remained in the corridor.

"It's so quiet it's making me sleepy."

Seo Jun casually said something completely unsuited for an infiltrator while looking around.

Even with the blueprint, Alverb Palace was absurdly complicated.

The viewers had apparently given up on seeing Seo Jun fail and started guiding him instead.

Seo Jun found a staircase leading downward and followed the viewers' directions.

Suppressing his presence, he quietly spoke so the stream could still hear him.

A pair of grand staircases descended like something out of a heroine's dramatic ballroom entrance scene, and beyond them lay a magnificent banquet hall.

"The scenery really is amazing."

Seo Jun whispered that before leaping over the railing.

At the bottom of the stairs stood two royal guards facing opposite directions.

Seo Jun dropped toward the guard on the right.

His coat fluttered dramatically.

Right before hitting the ground, Seo Jun hurled the dagger in his hand and pierced the throat of the royal guard on the right.

Then he immediately pulled the dagger back out, twisted his body, and threw it toward the guard on the opposite side.

-Holy crap, how did he even do that?

-He took out two people instantly.

-NOW that's assassination!

-No, this guy's just genuinely good at assassination lol.

Normally, when performing a surprise attack with a melee weapon, the game forced about a one-second assassination animation.

And in high-difficulty areas like the palace, if two enemies stood together and you assassinated one at close range, you would inevitably be discovered.

Seo Jun only had one dagger left.

So he approached closely, forcibly skipped the surprise attack animation at point-blank range, then pulled the dagger back out and eliminated the second target as well.

Seo Jun explained this to the viewers.

The viewers immediately found it ridiculous.

-Lol he could've just thrown the dagger first and then stabbed the other guy normally.

-He only lacked daggers. He still had tons of other weapons.

-His combat sense is actually insane. That's the important part.

LOL.

That was true.

Seo Jun admitted it without resistance.

"Now that I think about it, I guess that way would've been easier. But…"

He looked like he simply hadn't thought very deeply about it.

"Doing it this way isn't really hard either. Try it sometime."

After saying that, Seo Jun grinned.

The viewers lost their minds.

-He starts flexing the moment he gets even slightly hyped.

-Don't give this arrogant bastard opportunities to flex, guys lololol.

-"I just did it casually. Is there a problem?" lol.

-God, why did you give talent to someone like this?

-Seo Jun OP.

"An assassin must always use daggers."

Smiling proudly, Seo Jun headed toward the duke's residence.

-But if assassins use daggers, doesn't that mean all the times he smashed people to death with blunt weapons didn't count as assassination?

-The streamer just contradicted himself lololol.

Honestly, whether it was assassination or direct combat didn't really matter.

As long as it was entertaining, that was enough.

"Let's not sweat the small details."

Seo Jun's shameless voice echoed through the stream.

-Yes sir.

-Yes oppa.

-If I said something like that, I'd get cursed out. But he's handsome, so it works lol.

-I suddenly got annoyed. Unfollowing immediately.

Seo Jun laughed and spun two daggers around his index finger.

One of them was actually a kitchen knife he'd picked up earlier.

Seo Jun stretched his arm out through the darkness and aimed at the enemy.

"Hm. First time throwing weapons with different weights."

Still, it should be fine.

Fwack! Fwack!

The two daggers shot forward almost simultaneously.

The two guards protecting the residence entrance collapsed at the same time.

"Kuh—!"

Nice.

After hearing the brief dying cries, Seo Jun casually walked through the front entrance.

At this point, even getting caught didn't matter anymore.

"So, Scam Dice, how's my infiltration?"

-The real-time mission requester Scam Dice is crying right now lol.

-This isn't stealth or assassination anymore. It's just combat disguised as stealth!

-INSANE GUY! INSANE GUY! INSANE GUY!

['Scam Dice' donated 100,000 won!]

[Wait… did I get scammed? lol]

Seo Jun gave a thank-you message while the viewers burst into laughter.

And after reading that donation, someone awakened.

Bzzzzzt!

Beside Seo Jun, a floating sphere emitted crimson light before exploding outward.

A ruler had awakened.

"How dare a lowly creature enter this place without knowing its station."

The woman who had been lying on the bed was suddenly standing behind Seo Jun.

The strategy for defeating the duke had already spread online.

Another streamer had defeated her before Seo Jun did.

That wasn't particularly surprising.

People occasionally managed to defeat other rulers too.

Fortunately, however, no one had yet collected all the Fragments of Order.

That was because no player had defeated the Tower Masters yet.

In cases like Richard Neville, someone with enough skill to imitate Seo Jun's combat ability would theoretically be sufficient.

Especially since Weak Point Detection existed too.

Even Drave could be defeated if the player had enough skill and used the right combination of items and abilities.

"Though only an extremely small number of people could do it."

What mattered was that those people existed.

However, the Tower Masters were different.

The moment players acquired the Weak Point Detection skill, they immediately challenged the Tower Masters.

All for the sake of unleashing lightning like Seo Jun.

And the people who saw the flow of lightning fell into despair.

The weak points marked by the skill were unbelievably tiny.

On top of that, the lightning moved far too quickly.

[No but seriously, how did Nameless even DO that???]

[Even crazier part: he didn't even use Weak Point Detection lol.]

[His dynamic vision is literally bird-level.]

And even ignoring the lightning flow, the difficulty itself was absurdly high.

As a result, the evaluation of Seo Jun kept rising day after day.

Because people had already realized:

"They aren't expecting me to become a ruler anymore."

After all, another player had already done that once.

What people truly wanted to see now was someone collecting every Fragment of Order.

Seo Jun activated Weak Point Detection, observed the flow, and slashed the duke's orb with his sword.

The duke's orb was a reflective glass sphere — a special weapon she used.

It floated freely through the air, reflecting attacks and releasing embedded magic like a floating dome weapon.

"They said Weak Point Detection drastically lowers her difficulty."

Crash!

The duke's orb shattered, scattering glass fragments everywhere.

By some strange force, the countless shards froze midair, blocking Seo Jun's vision.

"How dare you destroy my property!"

Through the fragments, Seo Jun could see the duke's arm swinging from the opposite side.

Daggers flew toward him.

They slipped between the shattered glass and accurately targeted Seo Jun.

The daggers reflected off the fragments, multiplying like illusions and scattering his focus.

"But the real one is only a single blade."

And Seo Jun had never once failed to track an enemy's attack during combat.

The incoming dagger slammed directly into Seo Jun's own dagger.

At the same time, Seo Jun counterthrew his weapon.

The duke's remaining HP bar instantly dropped.

The duke let out a short dying gasp, stared at Seo Jun with empty eyes, and collapsed.

-Clean finish.

-His class is seriously different lol.

-No damage. No skills. Absolute monster.

-Let's goooo!

"It's over."

A notification rang out.

[The Duke Marideta has died.]

[Fragment of Order (4/4) acquired.]

[All Fragments of Order have been collected.]

[Hidden Scenario 'Choice' will now begin.]

As Seo Jun read the text, a crow flew down and gently landed on his shoulder.

A letter was tied to its leg.

"A messenger crow?"

Seo Jun untied the letter, and the crow flapped away through the balcony with a harsh cry.

He unfolded the slightly damp letter.

It stated that a reward would be given to him if he came to a certain place.

"So the branch chief sent this."

It looked like the scenario would begin once he arrived there.

-I waited an entire week for this!

-"Choice"? What kind of choice?

-Please don't betray us. Please don't betray us. Please don't betray us.

The destination was the fourth floor of an abandoned factory in the southern medical district of Altheon.

Essentially the edge of the game map.

"Well then, let's go."

Seo Jun escaped Alverb Palace just as leisurely as he had infiltrated it, then headed toward the marked location while checking the map.

He had to pass beyond District 4, where the commoners lived.

-This confidence after a sword massacre lol.

-Hey, strike while the iron's hot!

-Whew. We almost started a riot.

When Seo Jun arrived at the marked location, a cutscene began.

"Why did you call me here?"

Arthur, the Altheon branch chief, slowly emerged from behind a pile of mechanical scrap.

There was quite a distance between him and Seo Jun.

"Nameless. So you really did kill the duke."

"So what?"

Arthur narrowed his eyes.

"I warned you, didn't I? If you acted recklessly, the damage would grow even worse. Those bastards are already coming."

Though Arthur spoke calmly, he couldn't completely hide the anger boiling inside him.

His hands trembled from agitation.

"We requested support as well, but reinforcements haven't arrived yet. I told you to lie low until then. Couldn't you wait even that long?"

Yet Seo Jun — or rather, the protagonist inside the cutscene — remained perfectly calm.

"That sounds like your problem, not mine. And more enemies are coming? Then I'll just kill that many more."

-Is this even still a cutscene? It feels like the protagonist is actually moving on his own lol.

-He has absolutely zero manners lololol.

-Maybe it's because he kept choosing rude dialogue options earlier.

-Oh no…

"Right. You were never truly one of us. You never even accepted missions."

Arthur's trembling hand stopped.

Then he smiled gently, as though he had never been angry at all.

"But Nameless… you are dangerous. You're far too fascinating for us to simply allow you to shatter our order and leave."

Order.

A word that should never have come from an assassin guild.

At that moment, the protagonist sensed something wrong and immediately entered a combat stance.

Swoooosh!

Arthur hurled daggers, and the protagonist dodged before glaring at him.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Hm. As expected, that wasn't enough. Fitting for the man who killed four of my comrades."

"Comrades? Don't tell me…!"

The protagonist's face darkened.

"Yes. Exactly what you're thinking. I was cooperating with the rulers."

-I knew this guy was suspicious.

-Why would the assassin branch chief even—

-Final boss?!

-So THIS was the true ending route. Damn.

"There was only one reason we cooperated. If we fought each other to the death, both sides would lose. Mutual destruction. But once the Butcher of the West arrived, the balance of this city shattered. So I came up with a plan — use you to eliminate the other rulers, then make you my subordinate."

That was the reason accepting missions prevented players from obtaining the Fragments of Order.

Accepting missions essentially meant moving according to Arthur's will, which conflicted with the requirements for unlocking the hidden questline.

"But you acted however you pleased. That disrupted the plan. It took longer to take control of Malteon because of you."

Arthur smiled while holding a detonator in his hand.

"Still, the fact remains that you eliminated them for me. For that, I should thank you. Well then… goodbye."

Arthur immediately climbed the nearby staircase upward.

At the same time, explosions erupted from below.

Flames burst upward as explosions detonated one after another.

The protagonist was on the fourth floor.

Instead of chasing Arthur, he chose to leap outside.

But he jumped too hastily from too great a height and collapsed from the impact upon landing.

Arthur, standing on the rooftop, smiled and hurled daggers toward the protagonist.

A victorious grin spread across his face.

The protagonist closed his eyes, believing he would die helplessly.

Seo Jun thought the same thing.

But from Seo Jun's third-person perspective, a woman with black hair suddenly appeared, deflected the daggers, grabbed the protagonist, and escaped with him.

"Hm. A traitor? I didn't predict that, but a game of tag sounds entertaining too."

Arthur remained relaxed.

After all, most of Malteon was already practically under his control.

Arthur whistled, summoning another crow.

He removed a sheet of paper from its leg and wrote:

[Nameless has betrayed us and joined the rulers. From this moment onward, designate Nameless as the highest-priority assassination target.]

The crow flew away, and the cutscene ended.

Seo Jun found himself lying against someone's chest, hearing their breathing.

His body still wouldn't move.

Then—

A notification window appeared before his eyes.

The moment Seo Jun read it, his eyes lit up.

"So this is what it was?"

"This looks insanely fun."

-Wow.

-This is actually legendary lololol.

-This hidden quest is insane.

-The devs really said "try experiencing it from the other side, players."

-And it just HAD to go to the player best at countering assassins lololol.

[Hidden Quest - Resentment]

[Arthur, the Altheon branch chief, was a traitor.]

[Through a cruel twist of fate, you have become the highest-priority assassination target.]

[From this moment onward, every assassin under his command will pursue you without regard for means or methods.]

[They say there is nowhere in Altheon untouched by the eyes of assassins.]

[Perhaps the only way to survive is…...]

[To remain wary of whether every shadow on the street conceals an assassin's blade.]

[Quest Clear Condition: Survive the assassin guild's attacks for one full day.]