Max Talent Player - Chapter 285

Hyukjin knew Lasbon would wake up. He predicted what Lasbon would be thinking—the thief was surely enraged.

Because of his high pride, Lasbon likely felt very insulted. He would have a trump card prepared, and Hyukjin even knew what that trump card was.

‘He’ll use Hall of Thieves.’

Lasbon didn’t become a famous thief simply by being good at thieving. He was also very skilled at direct combat, at least wherever the Hall of Thieves was deployed. Moreover, when he fought with the Travelers of the Night, their combined coordination was so effective that you could essentially call it hunting rather than fighting.

“You shouldn’t have left me alive,” said Lasbon.

“How ungrateful for you to say that knowing I spared you.”

“I’ll make you regret not killing me.”

Hyukjin’s world began to change, darkening. He entered the special field created by the Travelers of the Night, Hall of Thieves, an arena that enabled thieves to engage in direct combat.

In regular fields, they were basically pure thieves with terrible combat ability. But in the Hall of Thieves, it was different. This field was made for them, and here, their combat prowess was boosted far above their usual levels.

Hall of Thieves.

It was one of the reasons why Lasbon and the Travelers of the Night he led were called big league thieves.

Hyukjin looked around. The Hall of Thieves he was in now was shaped like a circular dome and looked quite similar to the one he had seen in videos. This one seemed to be the initial version. Tombstones and structures like broken pillars were scattered around, providing cover. The arena was framed by massive pillars.

‘If you go past those pillars, you die.’

Only thieves could move past them. Regular Players were restricted solely to staying within the arena.

He heard Lasbon’s voice.

“I will get back Lefry’s Crossdressing Set.”

That moment, he heard a notice.

[The Nebula Robber’s ‘Robbing Authority’ has been proclaimed.]

[Upon the target Player’s death, ‘Duke Lefry’s Crossdressing Set’ will have a 100% chance to drop.]

Hyukjin smiled grimly.

‘So he wants to kill me.’

This situation was no surprise to Hyukjin. He had seen this—and exactly this—occurring from a mile away.

[The Hall of Thieves demands a blood offering.]

The battle began. Hyukjin cranked Eye of Perception to full power.

‘A total of four guys hiding around.’

Four people, including Lasbon. He located them all. One of them was a straight shot ahead of him.

‘He’s confident in his stealth.’

This guy was certain he would remain undiscovered. Hyukjin took out his bow.

‘No need to give them much time.’

He immediately drew on his strength, which he had been preparing in advance.

[Generating a temporary Blackfire Bow.]

[The Blackfire Bow’s base item is the Ink Bow.]

Hyukjin intentionally aimed elsewhere, pointing his bow at empty air to make Lasbon drop his guard. In other words, a bait.

A bait that Lasbon swallowed very nicely.

‘He doesn’t know where we are!’

Once Kim Hyukjin fired off in a panic, his defense would be blown wide open. Reaching that conclusion, Lasbon recovered his calm. He had faltered for a moment when Hyukjin had suddenly pulled out a bow, but that overwhelming aura of destructive power emanating from the bow didn’t mean anything if it didn’t land.

‘To think he would pull out a weapon he’s not used to…’

Lasbon smiled.

‘This should be a breeze.’

This guy had made the wrong choice out of panic, though it did look as though he was capable of unleashing a powerful shot. Even if he wasn’t used to it, he seemed to have some kind of ultimate skill ready to go.

‘A powerful move you’re not used to is actually fatally detrimental when used against us.’

But then, Kim Hyukjin whirled around, not losing his balance one bit despite turning so quickly.

Fwip!

He released his bowstring.

A scream split the air. A beam of light more akin to a railgun projectile than an arrow blasted through the field. Cover was useless against it. After smashing the cover to pieces, black flames began to devour the hapless Player.

It was only one arrow, but the might it carried was truly incredible.

The Player fell to the ground with a thud, powerless to resist.

Hyukjin’s expression hardened ever so slightly. He was no fan of murder. He, too, was a person. There was nothing to like about a person killing another person. But the world was different now. If he didn’t kill, he would be killed.

‘You brought this upon yourselves.’

They were the ones who first tried to steal from him, and they were the ones who came after his life even after he spared them. Hyukjin heard a voice trembling with rage.

“Can you handle the consequences?!”

Lasbon had never imagined that level of power. Even if it was an ultimate move, the attack he had just seen went beyond magic. But big hits like this naturally consumed a great deal of stamina. With just one attack, Kim Hyukjin would be exhausted.

Lasbon growled, “I’ll kill you…!”

Hyukjin scoffed. He wouldn’t have gotten involved if he didn’t think he could handle the consequences. As he watched, Lasbon’s body began to blur.

“Can you guys handle the consequences?” Hyukjin asked back.

“…”

“You’re the ones who picked a fight with me first, and you’re the ones who tried to kill me first.”

“…”

He received no response. The thieves moved swiftly about, eyeing their chance.

“The Travelers of the Night never forget their enemies.”

Lasbon’s eyes widened. ‘He knows who we are?’

Travelers of the Night wasn’t an official name.

‘How?’

They had never announced themselves publicly. So how did he know their name?

“And they never spare those who come into the Hall of Thieves.”

He had never said anything about the Hall of Thieves, either. But this Korean in front of him knew about it. He had heard much about the “Korean Style”, but witnessing it in person almost gave him goosebumps.

Hyukjin raised his bow again.

“You guys tried to kill me.”

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. He used the special ability he had acquired in his first ever PvP. He had crossed the Rubicon with these people. The Travelers of the Night never forgot their grudges. They would stir trouble at every opportunity.

‘I don’t like killing…’

There were times when you had to do things you didn’t want to.

‘But one more time…’

He focused. His target right now wasn’t a person, but an enemy. There were no people in war. Just enemies.

‘I’ll shoot.’

He focused on one point. His Divine Bow Tomed body honed its aim at that one spot, which grew large in his eyes. He penetrated the stealth the thieves were so confident in and aimed straight for the heart.

‘The heart.’

He fired at the heart, that one spot. One of the Travelers of the Night perished on the spot, their lifeforce engulfed by black flames.

Hyukjin dropped his bow.

‘Item switching.’

He had watched and learned the timing from the Fight King Vela. It wasn’t quite a perfect ‘Action Duplication’, but he could still pull off a passable imitation. Hyukjin whipped out an Item Shop dagger.

After rapidly switching weapons, Hyukjin stabbed downwards, holding the dagger in reverse.

The Player fell with a cry, a dagger in the back of his head. Hyukjin didn’t stop.

‘One step to the right.’

He sidestepped, then twisted a little. Something grazed his cheek.

‘A poisoned needle.’

After firing the poisoned needle from the shadows, Lasbon showed himself. His eyes were bloodshot and wet with tears.

“You will die here.”

“I think you said the same thing when I first arrived here.”

“You will die here.”

“…”

Hyukjin noticed. Those words weren’t a warning, but a type of incantation.

“You will die here.”

If that was the case, why was Lasbon uttering that incantation? The reason was simple.

‘In order to activate the poison that was on the needle.’

It was simultaneously an incantation and an activation phrase. There was a high chance the needle was laced with a deadly toxin.

“Even I don’t know what kind of poison was on that needle,” said Hyukjin.

“It’s Seven Steps Viper venom.”

The Seven Steps Viper was a snake monster with a venom so deadly it could kill before the victim could take seven steps. Hyukjin took another step to the left. A dagger buried itself in the tombstone behind him.

“It’s true that Seven Steps Viper venom is amazing. It can make an elephant drop dead in an instant.”

“…”

Lasbon realized that something was wrong.

‘Why isn’t he dying?’

Kim Hyukjin should at least be paralyzed, but he wasn’t. It felt as though all his plans in the Hall of Thieves were being thoroughly destroyed.

“I knew you weren’t the type to bend, much less break.”

When Lasbon first went after him, Hyukjin faintly guessed that things would end this way, though he hadn’t wanted it.

“And I doubt telling you to kneel at this point would do anything.”

Lasbon’s eyes became even more bloodshot.

‘What bullshit is he going on about?’

They had already crossed a point of no return.

“I will kill you here and join my comrades.”

“I guessed as much.”

That was the Lasbon he knew.

‘Eight years ago, you said the same thing to the Fight King Vela.’

The incident had caused a huge furor back then. Lasbon had staunchly refused to bend to the Fight King Vela.

‘Vela tried to spare you, but…’

In the end, Lasbon was killed by Vela, along with all of the Travelers of the Night. He chose the fate of dying with his crew, and it seemed it was doing the same now.

‘Giving you a painless death is the minimum degree of respect I can give you as another human.’

It was laughable to talk of respect when killing someone, but even so, that was the final show of respect he could offer his opponent.

“Just how. Just how did you survive the Seven Steps Viper venom?” asked Lasbon.

Hyukjin decided to answer his question.

“It’s merely that the purity of Athenae is a higher level than the venom of the Seven Steps Viper.”

“I see.”

Lasbon didn’t know what Athenae was, but his opponent seemed to have something pure that could neutralize poison. The thief took out a dagger.

‘Shadow Sneak.’

He moved. If he didn’t, he would be cut down. Before he knew it, his opponent had pulled out a sword, a fine blade that was obviously extraordinary.

Hyukjin used Flash Step, moving behind Lasbon in an instant. Lasbon’s Shadow Sneak was inferior to Hyukjin’s Eye of Perception. Just like the Seven Steps Viper venom, everything at Lasbon’s disposal was inferior to what Kim Hyukjin had.

Hyukjin swung Isabel.

Schwing–!

Just as the Demon King had done to Jackson, Hyukjin’s sword drew a clean arc in the air. Lasbon’s head fell to the ground.

[The blood of all the thieves has seeped into the Hall of Thieves.]

[The Hall of Thieves’ hidden piece has been fulfilled.]

There was a hidden piece. Hyukjin knew about it. If all of the thieves in the Hall of Thieves were killed, this hidden piece would trigger. Vela had gotten it back then.

[Activate the Hall of Thieves’ hidden piece, ‘Tombstone of Thieves’?]

Hyukjin shook his head.

‘NO.’

He knew what kind of hidden piece it was. Clearing it would yield him a unique grade item called ‘Miuron Shortsword’. He might consider it if it was a transcendent artifact like Isabel, but he didn’t want it. He had just killed four people, and he had no desire to earn a hidden piece by killing them.

[‘Tombstone of Thieves’ was not activated.]

Hyukjin didn’t greatly regret missing out on the hidden piece.

[Leaving the Hall of Thieves.]

* * *

* * *

At the same time, the Precognitive Dreamer Ham Sohyun bolted upright. All alone in the hospital room, her body floated into the air, her eyes turning white. A new prophecy fell from her lips.

–There, where the singular sun rises.

–Stands a tombstone drenched in blood.

* * *

Hyukjin reappeared in his original spot on the 1st floor where he had been teleported to after clearing the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Gate. Kang Somyi breathed a sigh of relief.

“Whew. What a relief. I thought you made a run for it.”

“…”

He had returned to the world he knew. Around him were the members of Giantgod Guild, as well as Kang Somyi. This was the real world. The shock he felt from killing four people just now was less than he expected.

“Let’s finish the trade, then.”

This was the world in which he lived. The Hall of Thieves was gone.

He turned his thoughts away from that starry world, focusing on this one.