Chapter 59: Kaeseong Subjugation Battle - (4)
A little while later.
Kim Miso, who was attacking Route 4-3 with Jo Jinho and Shin Taeri, checked Sanghyun's location on the GPS and spoke in surprise.
"I, Oppa is crazy."
Shin Taeri, curious about Kim Miso's unusual reaction, asked.
"Why?"
"Sanghyun Oppa is on Route 4-9, right?"
"Yeah."
"He's moving even faster than expected. He's already cleared over 60% of Route 4-9."
"Already?"
"Yeah. The Wood Killers alone aren’t easy, but he’s breaking through this fast?"
"I didn’t think he wouldn’t be able to clear it, but his speed is surprising."
Shin Taeri wiped the beads of sweat forming on her forehead and answered.
The monsters in Kaeseong Field, which ambushed from the darkness, were certainly tricky.
The original plan was for Jo Jinho, Shin Taeri, and Kim Miso to be assigned to different teams.
However, that was scrapped because it would just mean carrying the guild members every time.
The one who gave that order was Eden Guild’s Guild Master, Lee Daehyuk.
For Lee Daehyuk, who promoted the slogan "Stronger! Harder!", an easy strategy route didn’t exist.
He intentionally created an imbalance in the strategy team formations for each route to challenge the members’ limits.
As a result, the three top elites were gathered here. It wasn’t strange that Kim Miso, who had some leeway, took an interest in something else.
"He even overpowered Taeri in a five-move match and finished it in an instant with a counterattack. You think this would be difficult for him?"
"Oppa, that story…"
"What? Is it a black mark in your history?"
"It’s not that, but every time I think about it, I get frustrated."
"Then practice hard. Shin Sanghyun is not someone to take lightly."
At Jo Jinho’s words, Shin Taeri nodded.
Every time she saw him, Sanghyun’s abilities seemed to level up on their own. It wasn’t an illusion.
Today was no different.
Even with a team, Route 4-9 would be difficult, yet he had cleared 60% of it alone.
"The other route teams have barely reached 30% at best. Is Oppa fast, or are our teams slow…?"
"I think it's both."
Jo Jinho added.
"Why do you think he's this fast?"
"Shin Sanghyun has an excellent skill composition. If it were just because of artifacts, his setup would look more extravagant, but it’s actually quite frugal."
"Honestly, sometimes it feels like he gets a skill every day as if he's opening a gift box."
"I don't know the process, but Shin Sanghyun has the ability to use the right skills at the right time."
This was Jo Jinho’s best guess, as he wasn’t contracted with a Constellation.
Unlike Shin Taeri, who suspected Sanghyun had made a contract with a Constellation, Jo Jinho thought differently.
However, one thing was clear in both of their predictions—Sanghyun was different.
He had some mechanism of power that couldn’t be easily explained.
Shin Taeri, who wiped off her sweat with a towel, asked Kim Miso.
"How's the recruitment going?"
"It's at a standstill."
"Because of the chairman’s approval?"
"Not just my dad’s approval. The bigger issue is that Sanghyun Oppa has no interest in signing a contract."
At that moment, Jo Jinho naturally joined the conversation again.
"Miso."
"Yes?"
"You don’t need to be so impatient. Recruiting talent isn’t easy. Money alone won’t solve it."
"But…"
"Even our current position is good enough. Just giving the impression that our guild has merit in cooperating with him is beneficial."
"Do you think so?"
"Besides, it’s not like the guild master himself is pushing for the recruitment, right? If you push too hard, it could disrupt the guild's internal order."
At Jo Jinho’s calm words, Kim Miso bit her lip.
It was a criticism she had heard before—whenever Kim Miso took the lead, the guild master ended up being treated like air.
Shin Taeri added.
"Miso, just observe for now. That’s enough. We also need more time to get closer."
"I guess."
Kim Miso nodded.
But seeing Sanghyun improve day by day made her anxious.
That was how fast his growth rate was. Just by clearing Route 4-9 alone, the experience points he monopolized must have been enormous.
‘If Sanghyun shines this time, the Player Union will take more interest in him…’
That was Kim Miso’s concern.
More competition.
It was definitely not a pleasant variable.
At that moment.
"Level 87! That was fast."
Sanghyun looked at his newly achieved level with satisfaction.
For players at this level range, it typically took at least two weeks to gain one level.
But by hunting monsters alone and sweeping up all the experience, he had grown much faster than expected.
At level 100, skill enhancements could be obtained.
So approaching level 100 meant he was nearing a turning point for another leap forward.
"More importantly, it’s about time."
『Breath of Gaia』
As he moved, Sanghyun continuously activated Breath of Gaia to prepare for the emergence of stealthy monsters.
Shadow Hunters—nicknamed Shadows—were about to appear.
They would be a major problem in the second and third Kaeseong Subjugation Battles in the future.
Shadows were assassin-type monsters feared for their ability to strike silently.
The most terrifying thing about them was that they didn’t initiate attacks.
Unlike typical monsters that immediately showed hostility and attacked upon seeing a player…
Shadows made strategic decisions before attacking.
If they judged that their target was far superior to them, they would never attack.
Of course, if they determined that they could win through strategy, their approach would change completely.
Because of this, players often ended up ambushed and killed without ever realizing Shadows were present.
Moreover, Shadows devoured their victims completely, leaving not even a single bone behind.
That’s why most players who fell to Shadows were simply marked as missing.
‘I need to hunt them down even if they don’t attack me first, because of the title recipe.’
Even if Shadows didn’t initiate an attack, Sanghyun planned to hunt them down first—for the title.
By eliminating a large number of Shadows, he could acquire the B-rank title "Silence of Darkness" which had excellent utility.
'I see it.'
At that moment, Sanghyun noticed traces of movement appearing and disappearing behind a rock ahead.
//s_win
//win_h ■ Skill Description: Among beings that use mana, the movement path of hidden entities becomes visible.
//e_win
Just as described in the skill introduction, a series of blue footprints appeared on the ground, clearly pinpointing their location.
Similar to afterimages, the footprints left a trailing line, making it easier to recognize.
The footprints stopped.
One footprint extended just beyond the rock and remained completely still.
Of course, the Shadow itself was invisible, but Sanghyun could give color to its transparency.
'It’s watching me.'
The Shadow's gaze was undoubtedly fixed on him.
And it surely knew that every monster before it, including the Wood Killers, had been slaughtered.
Sanghyun strode forward.
He walked right up to the Shadow's nose, then feigned ignorance and passed by, moving further away.
These creatures weren’t fools.
If he obviously targeted them, they would either flee or fight back.
"……"
The moment he silently passed by the Shadow.
'It’s aiming at me.'
Sanghyun could feel it.
A slight disturbance in the surrounding air signaled that the Shadow was preparing to take his life.
Shadows, which had the form of bipedal leopards with ten sharp claws, were formidable assassins.
Though there were some variations, their stats were generally at least equivalent to a level 150 player.
Swish!
A sound of slicing wind!
『Acceleration』
『Demon Bash』
Feigning ignorance until the very last moment, Sanghyun spun his body and struck the Shadow with his skill.
Demon Bash, enhanced by Acceleration, delivered the force of a full-power baseball swing.
Slash!
……!
The Phantom Greatsword cut cleanly through the Shadow’s neck.
The execution was so swift that, as its invisibility faded, the Shadow's face was frozen in shock.
A gaping mouth! It met its end as if time had stopped.
Thud.
From the lifeless Shadow, a high-grade Magic Stone dropped.
A single one of these was worth a staggering 100 million won.
'Yeah, these guys are a must-hunt.'
Shadows provided great rewards.
On top of that, the experience gained from killing just one was several times higher than from a Wood Killer.
The real hunt had begun.
Thanks to Breath of Gaia, the hidden Shadows started to clearly appear in Sanghyun’s vision.
'There's a lot of them.'
As he examined the surroundings more closely, he could already see over a dozen of them.
The truly terrifying thing about these creatures was their patience—they remained completely still despite being so numerous.
'I'll use Breath of Gaia as an aid and start reading the flow of wind and killing intent.'
Sanghyun decided to sharpen his senses even further.
After all, Breath of Gaia was still just a skill, and skills could be silenced.
Thus, he needed to prepare ways to detect Shadows through other means, such as sensing movement and intent.
'Here they come!'
Sanghyun felt a large number of Shadows moving toward him.
The tracks revealed by Breath of Gaia indicated as much, and so did the subtle shifts in the surrounding energy.
Having witnessed one of their own being killed in an instant, the Shadows had stopped hiding their presence.
As expected of Shadow Hunters, despite ten of them approaching, not a single sound could be heard.
No presence, no visibility—Shadows truly lived up to their name. Shadows had no sound, after all.
『Full Charge』
Sanghyun stood his ground and entered a full-charge state.
If the Shadows had understood what this skill entailed, they wouldn’t have dared to approach.
But to the Shadows, whose experience mostly came from fighting occasional players in Kaeseong Field, his stance seemed bizarre.
With his motionless body and half-lidded eyes, Sanghyun looked more like a terrified prey than a predator.
Perhaps that was why?
Growing confident in their numerical advantage, some of the Shadows moved into a straight line.
Through Breath of Gaia, Sanghyun tracked every single movement in detail.
Clench.
He gripped his greatsword tightly.
"Hoo."
He took a deep breath.
The moment the Shadows, which had been scattering and regrouping repeatedly, perfectly aligned in a single straight line…
Boom!
Sanghyun, having stored power through Full Charge, launched himself forward like a coiled spring.
『Acceleration』
To top it off, his Acceleration skill had just come off cooldown after a minute, allowing him to use it again.
And then—
Shhhhhh!
A long, metallic sound rang out.
It was the sound of Shadows being sliced like straw by his greatsword.
In an instant, as Sanghyun sliced through the space before him, headless bodies fell one after another.
One strike—annihilation!
The ten Shadows, who had intended to surround and overwhelm Sanghyun, were utterly slaughtered.
A mere second ago, they had been confident in their overwhelming victory.
Now, they met a gruesome end.