Kihik― D, die!!!" Crunch―!!!
Lee Seung-hyeon. Alias, Shadow. He awakened the Unique Ability called [Shadow]. An ability to move by hiding inside shadows. Moreover, attacking using shadows was also possible, and especially at night when everything is dyed in shadow, he was nearly invincible. Thanks to his tremendous ability, courtships toward him continued from various huge guilds, even overseas guilds, but….
—I, I, I killed a person!!!
Whether because of the ability utilizing darkness, he himself became dyed in darkness. Showing signs of mental chaos, he eventually killed a person and became a serial killer. However, he didn't care. Because....
—I will give you power.
His ability was given by a voice of darkness. If he doesn't follow the voice's command, his ability will be taken away. And he felt ecstasy from the first murder. And the second, third, fourth.... Every murder was a problem, but especially the third. Killing Park Jang-hyeon, the eldest son of JK Cleaning Chairman Park Ho-yeon, was a big problem. Park Ho-yeon tried to kill him through tremendous connections, financial power, and influence, and Lee Seung-hyeon was hiding in the shadows watching for an opportunity. Like that, he has now committed his thirteenth murder.
"Kihik―! Kheu-heu-heu―!"
A person obviously out of his mind with his eyes rolled back. With the new power given by the voice of darkness last time, he hid in the shadow and followed a man into his house. And, when he was sleeping, he stabbed him to death with a dagger. Resentment, bewilderment, surprise... all sorts of negative emotions of the dead man began to be contained in the dagger.
—Good... this emotion....
Negative emotions of a human who died unjustly. These are the medium through which the voice of darkness gives him power.
"Kueaaaaa―!!!"
As emotions flowed in through the dagger, Lee Seung-hyeon shouted thinking he became stronger again.
"Ah, be quiet! What time is it now, what time!"
Then, the neighbor downstairs opened the window and protested because of the noise between floors.
"K, kheu-heu-heu, khi-hi-hi! Good, next is you!!!"
Lee Seung-hyeon decided the next target and immediately went into execution. Crunch―!!!
—Last night, two people died in Seoul. Judging by the murder method, it appears to be the crime of serial killer Lee Seung-hyeon, the culprit of the Park Jang-hyeon murder case last time. Accordingly, the police...
"Need to finish him quickly."
Lee Seung-hyeon killed two people. Last night at that.
"He killed two on the night I accepted the request. Is this a coincidence if it's a coincidence...."
Click―.
I checked my weapons. Heavily modified emergency revolver, automatic pistol, and the K2 rifle I've been using from the beginning until now.
"Pack a bow and arrows here too... melee weapons are a spear and a dagger. These two."
The armament level is perfect. I just need to do well.
"Hmm... Can I finish him?"
Suddenly thump― getting scared can't be helped. Hmm.
'Still have to overcome it. Only then can I improve.'
I finished checking weapons perfectly and took a spot at a motel about 1km away from the crime scene. Flop―.
"He wouldn't have run away from here. Looking at his past crime style...."
Lee Seung-hyeon basically kills one person, and feels ecstasy watching the police or reporters gathering due to that. And kills one of them again. 13, no, since he killed two this time, the 14th person. He will show the same behavior pattern this time too. But why can't the police catch him? Well, if he hides in the shadow, even Awakened can't catch him. Police also have Awakened personnel. Since Awakened are needed to arrest Awakened who committed crimes. But they can't catch him either. Why? Because Lee Seung-hyeon can move in and out of shadows freely. Thinking about it, it's really broken. Of course, Lee Seung-hyeon is skilled in interpersonal combat, but against monsters, he was just an ordinary Awakened 1. Conversely, I am skilled at dealing with monsters still, and have never dealt with a human. At most, clashing spears a few times with Baek Seo-yeon while training spearmanship was all.
'...Technically speaking, Goblins, Orcs, and Lizardmen are humanoid monsters so experience fighting them would be helpful but.'
I have to deal with Lee Seung-hyeon who is specialized in interpersonal combat, especially assassination. An opponent of a type I'm experiencing for the first time. I unpacked and rested a bit, then came out when it got dark. Of course, I couldn't bring all the weapons out.
"Police. Inspection...." "I am an Awakened belonging to KAMC. Here is my weapon possession permit too. The weapons I have right now are...." "Ah, you were an Awakened. There was a murder case here recently so we were inspecting." "Yes, good work. Weapons are this and... this. These two." "Yes, revolver and dagger. Confirmed." "Yes, keep up the good work."
Since there were police inspections here and there. I didn't want to get entangled in annoying matters for nothing, and I wasn't trying to find and kill Lee Seung-hyeon right now.
'Look at me.'
Lee Seung-hyeon is an attention seeker. And he has no hesitation in killing famous opponents. An Awakened belonging to KAMC appeared around the murder scene where he is hiding, continuously receiving police inspections?
'Naturally he would take me as the next target.'
He will consider me a candidate to murder. I came out aiming for that. If I hide, nothing happens.
'Expose myself to the opponent.'
Dangerous but am I that... confident? Well, at least I have the conviction that I won't die. Like that, I walked the streets for a long time and returned to the motel again. And....
"???"
What the, f*ck why isn't he coming.
"Did he not see...."
Ey, no way. I stood out so clearly?
"Phew, first I have to go to work so."
I stayed up all night with eyes wide open, and went to work soaked in fatigue.
'I'll be commuting from the motel for a while.'
The fortunate thing is that there is a subway line going from here to KAMC so it doesn't take long.
"Hey you... why do you look so tired? Did something happen?" "No, well... didn't sleep well. Haha."
Like that, 3 days passed....
[You have acquired the skill 'Overwork'!]
[Overwork Lv.1: You become able to act beyond fatigue limits. However, you must recover stamina to reuse it.]
"... Does even something like this appear as a skill."
Well, good if I have it. On the night of the 3rd day passing like that, finally a presence was felt.
'Did he come.'
"What is that bastard? Kheu-heu-heu..."
—Wait, strange.
"What, what?"
—... Never underestimate him. You must kill him, but don't underestimate him. He is an existence difficult for you to handle.
Lee Seung-hyeon, who was hiding after murdering. He watched a man from afar getting caught in inspections everywhere he went. Looking at him, he seemed like an Awakened, and just as he thought it would be fun to kill him. The voice of darkness that gave him power said he must kill him unconditionally. Saying that man is a very strong existence.
"For you to say such things... Kheu, kheu-heu-heu! It's the first time!?"
Then I must do it without fail. Lee Seung-hyeon laughed thinking about how much stronger he could become if he killed the man he was looking at.
"[Shadow Swimming]."
Casting the skill, he disappeared into the shadow.
All my senses are telling me.
'Dangerous.'
Did he finally recognize my existence and chase me? Stomp stomp―. Acting as if I don't know at all, I entered the motel room. Thunk―.
'They said he usually killed inside rooms where people don't see.'
Because it is the place with the most shade. Evening after sunset. If lights are turned off in the room, the room is all darkness, meaning....
'It fills with shadows.'
Of course, even if lights are on, there are many places with shadows in the room. Like under various furniture.... So for Lee Seung-hyeon who utilizes shadows, inside a room means the optimal environment for optimal murder. Click―. I turned off the lights and waited lying on the bed. Gripping the dagger tightly in my bosom.
'Come come come come come....'
Muttering like that inwardly, I finally felt him coming out from the shadow. Whish―. Naturally, I had the [Stealth] skill on.
'It's hard to find where I am at once.'
As the level of [Stealth] skill rose, the perception hindrance effect became stronger. It reached a level where ordinary people find it difficult to find me even right in front of me. Oh what, wasn't this a wall? It was a person? Raising it to a level where they would be surprised saying that.
'Of course, such effect doesn't come out against Awakened, but if I make Lee Seung-hyeon tilt his head even once, that is enough.'
"???"
As I expected, Lee Seung-hyeon tilted his head even seeing me lying on the bed covered with a blanket.
'Now.'
"[Light]."
I drew up a whopping one-third of the mana in my body. Naturally the brightness is.... Flashhhhhhhh―.
"Kuaaaaaaaaak―!!!"
Hit with a flashbang in a defenseless state. Light with intensity several times that of a flashbang. Brightness enough to blind eyes momentarily if it was an ordinary person, not an Awakened. Since I was covering myself with a blanket, naturally I wasn't affecte....
"???"
Wow, damn bright. What is this??? Even though I covered myself with a blanket, my vision was also slightly hazy because of the light penetrating through the gaps. Stagger―.
'He is staggering alone.'
Now. What is the biggest firepower I can produce right now. Click―. It's the gun. I lifted the K2 rifle, loaded it, and pulled the trigger.
'Naturally, almost no sound because of suppressor heavy modification.'
Pshh―!
However, Lee Seung-hyeon had faster recovery than I thought. Tingggg―!!! Swinging the dagger at high speed to deflect the fired bullet, Lee Seung-hyeon hid into the shadow immediately.
"!!!"
'Fast. Then moving on to Plan B.'
Not panicking is important. If I show a panicked appearance even once, I will only be toyed with by the bastard.
[Spirit: 8]
It was fortunate that my [Spirit] stat was 8. Since I don't get shaken in most situations. Click―. I immediately turned on the lights in the room to minimize shadows. Now the places with shadows become strictly limited. Under furniture, and....
"!!!"
Under me. I jumped into the air using [Leg Strength] and swung the K2 downwards. Claaaaang―!!!
"B, b, block?! Khi-hi-hit―!"
As expected, out of his mind. Blocking the bastard's dagger with the gun body and jumping into the air, I swung my foot towards the bastard using [Leg Strength] again but.... Whish―.
"...."
My kick stirred the empty air, and the bastard hid into the shadow again. Up to here is expected. I didn't think this bastard would go down easily. Thud―. After landing on the ground, I cast magic.
"[Light], [Light], [Light], [Light]."
Each sphere of light went under the furniture.
'Eliminate shadows.'
Can't eliminate them perfectly. Since there are door gaps, and grooves in the floor or walls. But such places are limited. That means?
"Kueeeeeek―!!! Die!!!"
Means I can predict where he will appear. Crunch―!!! I lifted the buttstock and swung.
read more on brightnovels.com