The accusation hung in the air like smoke.
"The rafters?" Cheon Sa-Rang repeated, his eyes snapping toward the dark wooden beams above. His grip on his sword tightened, his knuckles white.
Jin-Woo, curled into a pathetic ball on his chair, nodded frantically. He coughed, a wet, rattling sound that seemed to tear at his lungs. "I... I saw eyes. Red eyes. Just for a second."
It was a lie, of course. There was no one in the rafters. But fear is a potent hallucinogen.
"Come down, you rat!" Cheon Sa-Rang roared. He didn't wait for a response. He was a practitioner of the Gale Sword Style, known for its speed. He channeled his Qi, faint blue energy coating his blade, and slashed upward.
WHOOSH!
A crescent of sword energy tore through the air, smashing into the main support beam of the roof. Wood splintered. Dust and debris rained down on the disciples below. A massive section of the clay tiles shattered, allowing the storm outside to intrude.
Wind and rain howled into the room, extinguishing three of the four oil lamps instantly.
The room plunged into semi-darkness, illuminated only by the flashes of lightning outside and the single flickering lamp near the entrance.
"I can't see!" shouted a junior disciple named Kang.
"Stay where you are!" Cheon Sa-Rang commanded, his voice edging on hysteria. "Back-to-back! Defend!"
Jin-Woo didn't stay where he was.
While the others were blinded by the sudden shift in lighting and the debris falling from the ceiling, Jin-Woo slid off his chair. He hit the floor with a soft thud, masked by the thunder.
His body was weak. Moving felt like dragging a sack of wet sand. But his mind was racing at a speed no one else here could match. The +2 Agility he had gained from Elder Ma didn't make him fast, but it made his movements precise.
He crawled on his belly like a snake, moving under the heavy oak table.
'Seven targets left. The panic is setting in. Good.'
He reached into his robe. During the initial search, he had hidden a small, silver hairpin he had swiped from the dead servant girl, Mei, before the others noticed. It wasn't a weapon. It was a tool.
Jin-Woo looked at the leg of the disciple standing nearest to the table. It was Junior Brother Kang, a 2nd Stage Muscle Refining martial artist. Kang was trembling, swinging his sword blindly into the dark.
'Kang has a weak constitution. He panics easily. Perfect.'
Jin-Woo waited for a crack of thunder.
BOOM.
At that exact moment, Jin-Woo drove the sharp end of the hairpin into the back of Kang's calf. It wasn't a fatal wound—not even close. It was a sting.
"ARGH! He's here! He's under me!" Kang screamed, slashing downward in a panic.
His sword didn't hit Jin-Woo. Jin-Woo had already rolled away, suppressing a cough that threatened to give away his position. Instead, Kang's wild swing struck the wooden floorboards, sending sparks flying.
"Kang! Control yourself!" shouted a female voice. It was Sister Yeon, the group's healer.
"Something bit me! The assassin is on the floor!" Kang yelled, retreating blindly. In his haste, he backed right into another disciple, Iron-Fist Han.
Han, reacting on pure instinct and fear, thought he was being attacked. He threw a punch. His fist, hardened by years of striking hot sand, connected with Kang's jaw with a sickening crunch.
Kang dropped like a sack of potatoes.
Jin-Woo watched from the shadows near the wall, his breath shallow.
[Target: Disciple Kang (Unconscious)]
[Status: Vulnerable]
'Not dead yet. Just knocked out. Useless.'
Jin-Woo's eyes darted around. The group was fracturing. Cheon Sa-Rang was near the door. Iron-Fist Han was standing over the unconscious Kang. Sister Yeon was rushing over to check on Kang.
That left three others huddled in the corner.
Jin-Woo needed to increase the lethality. He looked at the single remaining oil lamp flickering on the wall bracket near Iron-Fist Han.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flask. It wasn't poison. It was high-proof rice wine he carried to numb the pain in his chest.
With a trembling hand, he tossed the flask.
His strength was low, but the distance was short. The ceramic flask shattered against the wall, right next to the open flame of the lamp.
FWOOSH.
The alcohol ignited instantly. The fire caught the old, dry tapestries hanging on the wall. Within seconds, the corner of the room was ablaze. The fire didn't just provide light; it consumed the oxygen. Smoke began to fill the pavilion, thick and choking.
"Fire! Get water!" Sister Yeon screamed, coughing.
"The doors!" Iron-Fist Han shouted. "We need to break the doors down!"
"No!" Cheon Sa-Rang blocked the exit, his eyes wild. "The killer wants us to open the doors so he can escape! No one leaves until I find him!"
'Cheon Sa-Rang represents the greatest threat,' Jin-Woo analyzed, pressing a wet cloth to his nose to filter the smoke. 'But his paranoia is my greatest weapon.'
Jin-Woo saw his chance. Sister Yeon was kneeling beside the unconscious Kang, trying to drag him away from the spreading fire. She was distracted. She was a healer, possessing low combat ability but high spiritual sense. If she focused, she might sense Jin-Woo's presence.
She had to go.
Jin-Woo crawled out from the shadows. He didn't look like an assassin. He looked like a dying victim, dragging his body across the floor.
"Sister... Yeon..." he rasped, reaching out a hand.
Yeon looked up, her eyes wide with fear. She saw Jin-Woo, pale and covered in soot. Her expression softened. "Junior Brother Baek! You're alive! Quick, come here, the smoke is getting too thick."
She extended her hand to help him. She was kind. She had brewed him medicine just last week when his coughing fits were bad. She was innocent.
Jin-Woo took her hand. Her skin was warm.
'Sorry, Sister. I need the XP.'
He pulled. Not to pull himself up, but to pull her down.
Startled, Yeon lost her balance and fell forward. As she fell, Jin-Woo's other hand moved. He wasn't holding a weapon. He didn't need one. He grabbed the back of her head and slammed her face into the wooden floorboards.
It wasn't enough to kill a martial artist. She groaned, dazed. "Baek...?"
Jin-Woo didn't hesitate. He grabbed the dagger that had fallen from Kang's belt when he was knocked out.
He looked into Yeon's eyes. Confusion swirled in them. She couldn't understand why the weak, sickly boy she had pitied was looking at her with eyes devoid of humanity.
"Shhh," Jin-Woo whispered.
He drove the dagger into the soft spot under her chin, pushing upward into the brain.
Her body stiffened, then went limp.
[System Notification]
[Target: Healer Yeon (1st Stage Qi Gathering) - ELIMINATED]
[Method: Deception / Stealth Kill]
[Reward: +2 Intelligence, +1 Spirit, Passive Skill: "Veil of the Innocent"]
[Veil of the Innocent (Passive): Makes the user appear less threatening to enemies. Lowers guard of those with "Good" alignment.]
The reward triggered a rush of cold energy into his head. His senses sharpened. The Spirit stat allowed him to sense the chaotic Qi signatures in the room more clearly.
'Five left. Including the unconscious Kang.'
Jin-Woo looked at Kang, who was still out cold next to Yeon's body. It was free real estate.
Jin-Woo leaned over and swiftly slit Kang's throat.
[Target: Disciple Kang - ELIMINATED]
[Reward: +1 Strength]
Strength flowed into his arms. The heaviness in his limbs lifted slightly. He wasn't strong yet—perhaps now he was as strong as a healthy teenager—but he was no longer a total invalid.
"Yeon? Kang?"
Iron-Fist Han's voice boomed through the smoke. He was coming closer, alerted by the noise.
Jin-Woo quickly rolled Yeon's body over, positioning it so it looked like she had been stabbed from behind while tending to Kang. He then scurried back into the dark corner, behind a fallen beam.
Han stepped through the smoke. He saw the bodies. He saw the blood pooling around Yeon's neck.
"THEY'RE DEAD!" Han roared, his voice cracking with terror. "Sa-Rang! The healer is dead! Kang is dead!"
The remaining disciples gathered, their backs to the fire. They were terrified. In the flickering light of the burning tapestry, shadows danced on the walls, looking like demons.
"Where is the cripple?" Cheon Sa-Rang demanded, looking around wildly. "Where is Baek Jin-Woo?"
"He must be dead too!" Han yelled. "He was weak! The fire probably got him!"
"No," Cheon Sa-Rang hissed. He was smart. Too smart. "We haven't seen his body."
Jin-Woo, hiding behind the beam, suppressed a cough. The smoke was irritating his damaged lungs. He could feel blood bubbling in his throat. If he coughed now, he died.
He bit his own tongue. The pain distracted him. He swallowed the blood.
'Cheon Sa-Rang suspects me. I need to make him suspect someone else.'
Jin-Woo picked up a small piece of broken tile. He looked at the disciple standing next to Han—Disciple Ryu.
Jin-Woo flicked his wrist. The +1 Strength helped. The tile piece flew through the air and struck the back of Iron-Fist Han's head.
Han spun around. Behind him was Disciple Ryu, holding a sword.
"You..." Han growled, his eyes bloodshot from smoke and fear. "You hit me?"
"No! I didn't!" Ryu stammered.
"You're standing right behind me!" Han screamed. The stress broke him. "You're the traitor! You killed Yeon!"
Han didn't use a sword. He used his fists. He lunged, a punch coated in iron-hard Qi aiming for Ryu's chest.
"Stop it, you fools!" Cheon Sa-Rang yelled, but it was too late.
Ryu, defending himself, slashed his sword. Steel met flesh. Han's shoulder was cut open, but his punch landed, cracking Ryu's ribs.
The melee began.
Jin-Woo watched from the darkness, a spectator in his own play. The fire was growing hotter. The air was getting thinner.
[Quest Progress: 4/10 Witnesses Eliminated]
[Time Remaining: 42 Minutes]
Jin-Woo wiped the blood from his lips and checked his System interface.
[Current Status]
Name: Baek Jin-Woo Physique: Severed Meridians of the Yin Moon (Damaged) Strength: 2.5 (Average Adult: 5) Agility: 4.0 Intelligence: 18.0 (Genius) Ruthlessness: S-Rank
"Dance," Jin-Woo whispered to the fighting men. "Dance until you drop."
He needed a weapon. A real weapon. He looked at Yeon's body. She carried a pouch of medical needles. Some were dipped in numbing agents.
Jin-Woo crawled over to her corpse again, ignoring the heat of the fire. He took the needles.
'Cheon Sa-Rang... you are next.'
The killing had only just begun. The inheritance of the Blood Demon required a river of blood, and Jin-Woo was thirsty.