Chapter 30

Assassination followed by concealment.

This was a traditional infiltration method that couldn’t be missed in Assassin’s Dawn.

When their route gets blocked during infiltration, players often choose this method.

There are even people who play by assassinating every single NPC.

However.

What Seo-jun had done was, if you had to classify it, something on an entirely different level.

Killing NPCs who had been forced into alert mode before they could even see him, making it count as assassination.

In other words, it was gameplay that crushed everything with pure physical prowess.

-This guy’s doing what only he can do again

-Go ahead and take it all lol

-Anyway, assassination without witnesses. I’m speechless

-Assassination by killing just before being spotted damn

In difficult areas like Alberck Palace, if you assassinate and then hide, they notice a colleague’s absence after a certain amount of time.

If you kill an NPC and hide in this place, you’re forced into a time attack.

“Well. From now on, I’ll proceed a bit faster.”

It wasn’t too pressing.

Because from now on, he didn’t plan to worry about noise.

Click-clack.

Seo-jun walked leisurely down the corridor.

No, “strode” would be a more accurate description.

And when Royal Guards approached after hearing that sound…

He pulled a dagger from his inventory and threw it.

“Assassination is definitely easier than hack-and-slash.”

Seo-jun hid the fallen NPC in a nearby empty room and walked again.

-We never actually agreed to call this assassination either…

-Kind of bewildering lol

-Throwing before they can even see you holy

Alberck’s corridors were decorated gorgeously enough to feel their splendor even in the dark night, and wide enough for several people to walk hand in hand simultaneously.

Stomp stomp.

And from the opposite end of the wide corridor came the sound of dignified footsteps.

The Royal Guards were an organization of those trained in both magic and martial arts.

Naturally, their every step had to exude pride.

The moment a uniformed knight turned the corner and even the slightest part of his body was caught in view…

Swoosh!

The dagger cut through the air and pierced the Royal Guard.

The Royal Guard opened and closed his mouth with shocked eyes before closing them.

-Damn, that prediction shot was insane

-Did you see him and throw?

-That’s insane too lol

-Just insane seriously

Once again, only one set of footsteps echoed in the corridor.

“I like how quiet it is.”

While making comments unbefitting an intruder, Seo-jun looked around.

Even with the blueprint, Alberck Palace was nothing but complex.

The viewers seemed to have given up on seeing Seo-jun fail and started giving him directions.

Seo-jun found stairs leading to the lower floor and followed the viewers’ words in that direction.

“Oh.”

Seo-jun held his breath and let out a quiet exclamation that only the viewers could hear.

Two branching staircases that looked like they were meant for a female protagonist to show off her dress and beauty in a highlight scene, and a ballroom visible once you descended the stairs, greeted him.

“The background design really is amazing.”

Seo-jun whispered that and leaped over the railing.

At the bottom of the stairs, two Royal Guards standing on either side watching the hall caught his eye.

Seo-jun dropped toward the Royal Guard on the right.

The coat he was wearing fluttered.

Just before touching the ground, Seo-jun threw the dagger in his hand, ending the life of the Royal Guard standing on the right.

Immediately after, he pulled out the dagger embedded in the neck, turned his body, and hurled it at the Royal Guard standing on the opposite side.

-Whoa shit, what did he just do lol

-That’s how you take down two people

-Now this is assassination!

-This guy’s just good at assassination lol

When using close-range weapons for surprise attacks rather than throwing weapons, about a 1-second assassination animation is forced.

And in high-difficulty areas like palaces, when two people are standing together, if you surprise attack one with a close-range weapon, you’ll inevitably be discovered.

And Seo-jun only had one dagger left.

So he approached close, threw it from the shortest possible distance to skip the surprise attack animation, and simultaneously pulled out that sword to deal with the other one.

Seo-jun explained this point to the viewers.

The viewers were dumbfounded.

-Lol just throw the dagger and surprise attack the remaining guy with a longsword lol

-For real, he just doesn’t have daggers but has plenty of other weapons

-The streamer’s surprisingly dumb. But that’s what’s good about him

Huh.

That’s right.

Seo-jun readily admitted it.

“I didn’t think of that. That method would be easier. But.”

It was largely because he hadn’t thought deeply.

“This way isn’t particularly difficult either. Let’s try it once.”

After saying that, Seo-jun grinned.

The viewers loved it.

-Crazy, he deceives whenever he gets the chance

-Let’s not give that evil streamer any chances to deceive us lol

-???: Ah, I just did it casually, is that a problem?

-God, why did you give such a guy talent?

-Seo-jun wins!

“Assassins should always use daggers.”

Seo-jun wore a victorious smile as he headed toward the Queen’s quarters.

-But if assassins use daggers, then what about all the times you were beating people with longswords? Were you not an assassin then?

-The streamer caught in self-contradiction lol

Honestly, whether it’s assassination or hack-and-slash doesn’t matter much.

As long as the broadcast is entertaining, that’s all that matters.

“Let’s overlook the minor details.”

Seo-jun’s heavy voice rang out pleasantly.

-Yes, hyung.

-Yes, oppa.

-Ugh, if I said that I’d get cursed out. It’s cause he’s handsome first of all lol

-Suddenly getting really annoyed. Unfollowing right now.

Seo-jun smiled and fitted two daggers between his fingers around his index finger.

The other dagger was a kitchen knife he’d picked up along the way.

Seo-jun extended his arm in the darkness, aiming at the enemy.

‘Hmm, this is my first time throwing weapons with different weights.’

But it should be fine.

Swoosh!

Two daggers rushed forward almost simultaneously.

And the two guards protecting the quarters’ door fell simultaneously.

“Kgh!”

Good.

A short death rattle sounded and Seo-jun confidently entered through the main door.

It didn’t matter if he got caught now.

“So, Rigged Dice-nim, how was my infiltration?”

-Rigged Dice who requested the real-time mission is crying lol

-A hack-and-slash maniac who does infiltration and assassination like hack-and-slash too!

-Maniac! Maniac! Maniac! Maniac!

[‘Rigged Dice’ donated 100,000 won!]

[Huh? Did I get scammed? Damn it]

Seo-jun gave his thanks and the viewers laughed.

And sensing that presence, someone rose.

Whirr!

A red cluster of light gathered at the front of a sphere that rose beside Seo-jun, then shot out as a beam.

The Queen, a Ruler, had awakened.

“What lowly thing dares enter here without knowing its place?”

She who had been lying in bed was somehow standing behind Seo-jun.

* * *

The strategy for the Queen was already widespread.

Another streamer had defeated her before Seo-jun.

This wasn’t surprising.

Other Rulers had also been occasionally defeated by people.

But fortunately, no one had collected all the Cosmos Fragments yet.

The reason was that no one had appeared who had defeated the Tower Master yet.

For someone like Richard Neville, if you had enough skill to follow Seo-jun’s broadcast and copy it, that was sufficient.

There was Weakness Detection too.

Drake could also be defeated if you were skilled enough and went with the help of various items and skills.

‘Of course, it’s an extremely small number.’

Anyway, the important thing was that there were a few.

But the Tower Master was different.

People who had obtained the Weakness Detection skill had immediately challenged the Tower Master.

Solely to throw lightning like Seo-jun.

And people who saw lightning’s weak point fell into shock.

The area marked as a weakness was far too narrow.

Also, the speed at which lightning disappeared was too fast.

[Seriously how did Nameless do it? Lol]

[Even more chilling fact. He doesn’t even use Weakness Detection, damn it]

[His dynamic vision is at least bird-level]

And even if you didn’t aim for lightning’s weak point, the difficulty was too high.

That weak point and evaluations of Seo-jun kept rising day by day.

Anyway, the conclusion was.

‘People aren’t expecting me to defeat the Queen right now.’

Since she’d already been defeated once by someone else.

What people really wanted was collecting all the Cosmos Fragments.

Seo-jun used Weakness Detection to see the weak point, then slashed the Queen’s Mirror with his sword.

The Queen’s Mirror was a glass sphere that reflected like a mirror, a special weapon the Queen used.

Moving freely through the air, it could reflect attacks or use embedded magic, an orb-type weapon.

‘They say this Weakness Detection really lowered the Queen’s difficulty.’

Crash!

The Queen’s Mirror shattered and glass fragments scattered.

Countless fragments were fixed in the air by a special force, blocking Seo-jun’s vision.

“How dare you touch my things!”

Seo-jun could see the Queen’s arm swinging on the opposite side through the mirror fragments.

A dagger flew toward him.

Weaving between the glass debris, heading precisely for Seo-jun.

The dagger multiplied like illusions as it reflected in the mirrors, dispersing his focus.

‘But there’s only one real one.’

And Seo-jun had never missed an enemy’s attack during combat.

Clang!

The dagger flying like lightning was blocked by Seo-jun’s blade.

And in return, Seo-jun threw his dagger.

“Ah…”

The last remaining HP bar depleted.

The Queen let out a short death rattle and stared at Seo-jun with hollow eyes before collapsing.

-Clean as hell

-Really different class lol

-First try. No damage, no skills. Crazy…

-Let’s go now!

“It’s over.”

A notification sound rang.

[Queen Arietta has died.]

[You have obtained Cosmos Fragment (4/4).]

[You have collected all Cosmos Fragments. The hidden scenario ‘Choice’ will proceed.]

While Seo-jun was reading the text, a crow flew over and gently landed on his shoulder.

A letter was tied to the crow’s leg.

“A messenger bird?”

When Seo-jun untied the paper from its leg, the crow made a fluttering wing sound and flew away through the balcony.

He unrolled the curled letter.

It was content telling him to come somewhere to receive a reward.

“The branch chief sent this.”

It seemed like going there would start the scenario.

-I waited a week to see this!

-Choice? What choice are they talking about?

-Please don’t end the stream. Please don’t end the stream. Please don’t end the stream.

The location was the 4th floor of an abandoned factory in the southern outskirts of Alteon.

Practically the edge of the game map.

“Well, let’s go see. I guess.”

Seo-jun leisurely exited Alberck Palace, no different from when he infiltrated, then looked at the map and headed to the marked location.

He had to pass through District 4 where commoners lived and go further south.

-The stream-ending streamer is doing this?

-That’s right, strike while the iron is hot!

-Phew. Almost caused a riot.

When Seo-jun arrived at the marked location, a cutscene began playing.

“Why did you call me here?”

Arthur, the branch chief of Alteon, appeared slyly from behind some scrap metal machinery.

The distance between him and Seo-jun was quite far.

“Nameless. So you finally took down the Queen.”

“So?”

Arthur’s eyes widened.

“Damn it. Didn’t I tell you? I said if you recklessly took her down, the damage would be greater. The Order bastards are coming.”

Arthur was speaking calmly, but he couldn’t completely hide his boiling anger.

Arthur’s hands were trembling with excitement.

“We also requested support, but we haven’t received a reply yet. I told you to restrain yourself at least until then. Couldn’t you wait that long?”

Even so, Seo-jun—no, the protagonist in the cutscene—remained composed.

“That’s your problem, not mine. And more of them are coming? Then I’ll just kill that many more.”

-Is this a cutscene or is the streamer moving right now? lol

-No way lmao

-I think he chose that kind of dialogue option when he talked with Arthur before.

-Oh no…

“Right. You weren’t our brother. You never even accepted missions.”

Arthur’s trembling hands stopped.

And Arthur smiled benevolently as if he’d never been excited.

“But Nameless, you’re strong. Strong enough that I can’t help it even if you escape my control and disturb the cosmos with your allure.”

Control and cosmos.

Words that shouldn’t come from an Assassin’s mouth.

Then the protagonist sensed something wrong and entered combat stance.

Swoosh!

Arthur threw a dagger and the protagonist dodged it before glaring at Arthur.

“What is this supposed to be?”

“Heh. I knew this level wouldn’t work. As expected of a man who killed four of my colleagues.”

“Colleagues? Don’t tell me…”

The protagonist’s face contorted.

“That’s right, as you suspect. I was in a cooperative relationship with the Order’s Rulers.”

-Crazy, the back story was fucking dirty.

-Why would an Assassin branch chief?

-Is he the final boss?

-So this was the true ending.

“There was one reason for cooperation. If we fought each other with the intention of mutual destruction, the answer was obvious. Mutual annihilation. But from the moment you, the western butcher, arrived, this city’s balance was broken. So I thought. I’d use you to kill the other Rulers and replace them with my subordinates.”

The reason for not getting Cosmos Fragments when accepting missions came out.

The very act of accepting missions was equivalent to moving according to Arthur’s will, so it conflicted with the conditions for the hidden quest.

“But you acted on your own. So plans got twisted and it took time to seize control of Alteon.”

Arthur smiled and held a button in his hand.

“Anyway, it’s true that you eliminated them, so I’ll express my gratitude. Well then, farewell.”

Arthur climbed the stairs right next to him to the upper floor.

At the same time, an explosion sounded from the lower floor.

Fire erupted and floors began exploding one by one.

The protagonist was on the 4th floor.

He chose to leap outside rather than follow Arthur.

But because he jumped so hastily and from such a height, he was injured upon landing and collapsed.

Arthur on the rooftop smiled and threw a dagger at the protagonist, wearing a confident smile.

And the protagonist closed his eyes, thinking he would inevitably die.

Seo-jun thought the same.

But from Seo-jun’s third-person perspective, a scene unfolded where some black silhouette of a woman appeared, deflected the dagger, took the protagonist, and ran away.

“Hmm. A traitor? I didn’t expect this, but a game of tag should be fun too.”

Arthur maintained a relaxed attitude.

Alteon was already half his anyway.

When Arthur whistled, a crow flew over.

Arthur took out the paper tied to the crow’s leg and wrote a letter.

[Nameless has betrayed us and sided with the Order. From now on, designate Nameless as the highest priority assassination target.]

The crow flew away and the cutscene ended.

* * *

Huff huff.

Seo-jun was currently on the back of someone breathing heavily.

He still couldn’t muster any strength.

Then.

Ding.

A window appeared before his eyes.

Seeing this, Seo-jun’s eyes lit up.

So this was it?

“This should be pretty interesting.”

-Wow

-Real legend LOL

-Is this a hidden quest? Insane…

-Reverse the roles and get a taste of it, players!

-Ah lol the player education quest happened to go to a streamer who’s fucking good lol

[Hidden Quest – Hunt]

[Branch chief Arthur of Alteon was a traitor.

To make matters worse, you’ve been placed on the highest priority assassination list.

From now on, all assassins under his command will rush at you using any means necessary to eliminate you.

They say there’s no place in Alteon where the assassins’ eyes don’t reach.

The only way to survive is probably…

To be vigilant about whether or not assassin blades are hidden in every shadow on the street.

Quest Clear Condition: Survive the Assassin attacks for one day]