Chapter 31

A hidden quest.

And not just any hidden quest — one where the player became enemies with the Assassin Guild.

People exploded with excitement.

-Ooooooh.

-I never imagined the PLAYER would become the target of assassins lol.

-Lol now you get to experience everything you've done to others.

-The streamer says that like he's ever actually assassinated anyone.

-Lol true. He just beat everyone to death.

Seo Jun first turned his head to grasp the situation.

Right now, someone was carrying him somewhere.

As blond hair peeked out from beneath the hood and fluttered in the wind, Seo Jun quickly realized who it was.

At a moment this important, there was only one blonde NPC likely to appear.

"Pristina?"

Seo Jun attempted to speak.

"Nameless. Yeah, it's me."

She was breathing heavily.

Looking around, it seemed she had carried him all the way from the abandoned factory to District 4.

-Noona! I knew you'd come!

-Sorry, our streamer's kinda heavy.

"After the duke died, Arthur announced that you betrayed us and joined their side."

Pristina spoke while entering some kind of building.

Then she sat him down on a chair and began wrapping bandages around her injured leg.

"But I couldn't believe it. I know the reason you fought those Death Squad bastards in the west."

It was part of the protagonist's backstory.

The protagonist had lost his family because of the Death Squad.

"So I followed Arthur and overheard your conversation. That damned bastard had been deceiving all of us this whole time."

During the cutscene where the protagonist spoke with Arthur, she had apparently been nearby.

Seo Jun's gaze shifted toward her arm.

Her sleeve had been torn apart in the explosion, exposing reddened skin.

An injury she'd suffered while escaping the blast.

Unlike the protagonist, she had been closer to the explosion.

"From now on, Arthur will mobilize all the branch members to eliminate you. Once they discover your location, it'll happen instantly. There are no blind spots in Malteon."

Pristina tightened the bandages around herself.

Even then, Seo Jun's body still wouldn't move properly.

"Hm. Then shouldn't you run away too?"

"Yeah. I'll hide."

-Cold-hearted.

-She's ditching him immediately lololol.

-Honestly, she doesn't have much choice.

-Hey, be grateful she saved him at all.

Once Pristina finished the emergency treatment, sensation slowly returned to Seo Jun's body.

"Because I need to expose Arthur's crimes. He probably still thinks I'm on his side. If I don't use this chance, Malteon will completely fall into his hands. Then even more people will suffer. I'm sorry."

I see.

She had made the most rational decision possible.

Not for herself, but for Altheon.

"Then hurry and go."

Seo Jun stood up and tested his legs.

"Emergency treatment is basically a penalty, everyone."

His movement felt awkward, and he couldn't run properly.

A difficulty level fitting for a quest only unlockable after defeating every ruler through direct combat.

"You want me to leave?"

"No. I said hurry and go."

Seo Jun smiled warmly.

"That's right, Nameless. I really hope you survive. If you can somehow use the Death Squad against each other… if you can endure for about one week…"

-One week?

-But the quest clearly said one day.

-How are you even supposed to use the Death Squad?

Pristina suddenly stopped speaking and shouted toward the ceiling.

"Damn it, Johan, stop! He's—!"

When Seo Jun looked upward, a man named Johan dropped down from the ceiling toward him.

With a sword pointed directly at him.

Of course, Seo Jun had already noticed him to some extent.

When Pristina was bandaging herself earlier, he had sensed subtle changes in the surrounding sounds and stayed alert.

Seo Jun grabbed Johan's wrist and slammed him onto the floor.

BAM!

-Damn, their eyes met for one second and he instantly reacted.

-This guy's insane lololol.

-As expected, he immediately turned the situation around.

-LOL.

Then, without hurry, Seo Jun drew his sword and swung toward the assassin's neck.

CLANG!

A sound that absolutely shouldn't have happened rang out.

In that instant, Pristina blocked the attack.

The sharp sound of metal colliding echoed clearly through the room.

"Why?"

Seo Jun asked.

Just as Pristina was about to explain why she stopped him, Johan rolled away and lunged toward Seo Jun again.

Seo Jun casually tripped him, smashed him back into the floor, and subdued him.

Then knocked him unconscious.

He didn't strike him down.

Because he was curious why Pristina had protected him.

But Pristina's expression still contained traces of shock and confusion.

"How are you suppressing him so easily…? Johan is a Master-ranked assassin."

Master Rank was a title only granted to the strongest assassins in the guild.

Usually fewer than five existed in an entire branch.

"If you're this strong… seriously, Nameless."

Pristina bit her lip and looked at him.

"Do you think you can survive? Our branch has a total of 47 members."

Forty-seven.

Seo Jun answered confidently.

Not only because he was certain of his skill, but because he had something even more reliable.

"Hm. Well, I'm a player anyway, so I can't really die."

-Try dying then lololol. If you die, just restart!

-What a ridiculous mindset lol.

-It's cute how she's impressed after seeing the streamer's skill.

-She's way too pretty.

"If you're really that confident… could I ask you for one favor?"

Looks like the conversation branch finally opened.

"What is it?"

Another quest?

It seemed his displayed skill level had satisfied some hidden condition.

Seo Jun's prediction was correct.

However, the newly appeared quest had a somewhat different direction.

[Affinity Quest - Mercy]

[Johan is a Master-ranked assassin, yet you subdued him this easily… If you're this skilled...]

[This may be shameless of me, but I have no other choice. The other brothers are still being deceived by Arthur.]

Then—

If he managed to survive…...

[Quest Clear Condition: During the 'Survival' quest, do not kill a single person.]

[Quest Clear Reward: Pristina Affinity reaches Maximum.]

"…if you can grant me that mercy…"

In the Assassin Guild's reputation missions, every named NPC had an Affinity stat.

By making special choices, performing certain actions, or progressing affinity quests, players could raise that affinity rank.

Maximum was the highest level possible.

Pristina lowered her eyes guiltily, avoiding Seo Jun's gaze as she spoke.

"Please show mercy to the guild members and don't kill them. They're all being deceived by Arthur. Please… if possible…"

Pristina paused briefly.

Then she slowly raised her head, looked directly into Seo Jun's eyes, and spoke clearly.

"I'll give you everything I have."

-...

-Wait WHAT???

-Bros, recruiting a party to hunt the streamer right now (1/9999999999).

-Damn, guess I gotta kill rulers too now.

-Getting Pristina's affinity maxed is insanely difficult, so why is the streamer getting it for free?!

-First player to hit max affinity lololol.

Seo Jun immediately pressed Accept Quest.

"Oh, this quest even gives rewards. Then obviously I'm doing it."

Normally, quests were supposed to have rewards.

"Thank you, Nameless. Truly. Please survive."

Pristina shyly stepped closer.

Then, with a determined expression, she took Seo Jun's hand and lightly kissed the back of it before leaving.

"Hm. Isn't hand-kissing usually done by men?"

Seo Jun casually muttered that before glancing toward chat and suddenly flinching.

-How dare she touch Noona's lips to him?!

-Noona, are you perhaps looking at his face? Noona, are you looking at his face right now?!

-I'm blackening. I'm blackening. I'm BLACKENING.

-Abandon the affinity quest! Abandon the affinity quest!

-If I can't have her, nobody can.

-How do you hack accounts, everyone? Serious question.

-Burn the hand that received the kiss!

"Uh… everyone, calm down."

Why were they this worked up?

LOL.

-If you looked like him, would you even notice?

-Kill Johan and I'll donate 100k lololol.

-Dude, you're handsome already. At least give up romance in games.

"It's life though? But… someone's here."

Seo Jun firmly gripped his sword and looked around.

At some point, someone had infiltrated the area.

The surrounding background noise had subtly changed.

And the moment the airflow shifted—

A person burst out from the shadow covering the wall.

"Die."

Seo Jun tested something by swinging his sword.

Clang!

With a clear metallic sound, space itself seemed to twist around the direction his blade met.

At the same time, the assassin was blown away.

Parrying worked.

"This survival thing might actually be easier than expected."

But then the atmosphere changed once again.

Swoooosh!

A dagger tore through the air from outside.

Its target was Seo Jun's ankle.

Seo Jun lightly jumped to avoid it.

However, because his injured foot was still wrapped in bandages, his jump was weaker than expected, and the dagger grazed him slightly, shaving off a bit of HP.

At the same moment the dagger embedded itself into the floor—

"Traitor!"

"You Death Squad bastard!"

Two assassins attacked Seo Jun from opposite directions.

KABAAAANG!

Seo Jun's eyes instantly scanned the battlefield and made a judgment.

To overcome the disadvantage in mobility—

He first closed the distance to the enemy in front, clashed weapons to momentarily disable him, then turned to face the enemy approaching from behind.

The assassin sword — symbol of the guild — gleamed under the sunlight pouring through the window.

And that was the end of it.

"Guh—!"

Seo Jun's blade moved freely and effortlessly neutralized the enemies.

In an instant, three more assassins were added to the pile of incapacitated bodies.

"So my location's already exposed. Let's move."

Seo Jun knocked out the groaning assassins completely by striking their heads, then left the area.

District 4's streets were crowded with people.

Seo Jun naturally blended into the crowd.

The best place to hide a grain of sand was the desert.

But it didn't matter.

"There is no sin. I shall carry your death."

It was just an ordinary-looking butcher on the street.

That seemingly normal man waited until Seo Jun got close before suddenly attempting an assassination.

Sparks exploded.

Fortunately, Seo Jun turned his head in time to react.

And in the direction he turned—

Another assassin stood there wielding chains.

FWOOSH!

The chains moved like living snakes as they shot toward Seo Jun.

At the same time, daggers flew down from the second floor.

-Am I the only one getting chills?

-This feels so hopeless.

-Holy crap. No skills either?

-Cowards! Fighting him as a group?!

Because of his injured foot, he couldn't even run away properly.

His skills were sealed too.

The only option left was endurance.

Seo Jun first dealt with the daggers that would reach him the fastest.

Then he dodged the chains, grabbed them by hand, and yanked hard.

The assassin above, who had thrown the chains, drew an assassin blade from his sleeve and charged down—

Seo Jun sidestepped and slammed him directly into the chain assassin instead.

"Guhak!"

-Seriously, what IS this guy…

-You can't help but admire him.

-Lol the assassins got a taste of direct combat and can't process it.

Nearby NPCs began gathering in alarm.

Seo Jun quickly knocked the assassins unconscious and escaped the scene.

"The guy on the second floor disappeared already."

Concealment Arts?
Or did he just flee?

Daggers flew again.

Seo Jun knew this feeling very well from memories of his previous life.

Back then, whenever enemies shared his location in real time and cornered him in battle, he had felt this exact same sensation.

"If this keeps going for a full day, it's gonna get annoying."

One in-game day was much shorter than 24 real-world hours, but it still lasted an entire hour.

Swoooosh!

Seo Jun caught the incoming daggers with his right hand and spoke.

"Guess I'll just have to capture them all."

His eyes began to shine.