Chapter 262
What is an assassin?
It's someone who solves his or her mission without being seen, especially eliminating someone.
And it's because of this unusual way of doing things that assassins have been a concept for countless players in the past, and I've played countless assassins myself along the way.
Archer assassins.
Dagger assassins.
Pistol assassins.
A white hooded assassin with a knife in each hand.
Assassins who snapped people's necks with their bare hands.
And through it all, I realized one thing.
‘All assassins operate similarly.’
They all have the same end goal: to reach and kill their targets without being detected.
The sound of upbeat music echoed around me.
Sprawling flower beds and trees, butterflies fluttering around and people moving their bodies in time with their movements.
Waiters moving around and surfing champagne and food.
One might think that such a chaotic party would be an easy target for an assassination.
All you have to do is disguise yourself as one of them, sneak in, take out your target, and you're done.
But first, we had to remember what this place was like.
This party was hosted by a high-ranking soldier.
Why would only commoners gather in such a place?
There had to be a high percentage of Awakened in the mix.
‘And the assassin would have to cut through the Awakened, kill the target, and survive.’
In other words, even if the assassination is successful, it's very hard to get away.
So why not change the perspective and do it from a distance?
After all, sniping is a time-honored method of assassination but this wasn't the best terrain for sniping.
The grounds around the house were flat and the interior of the mansion was walled off, so it would be impossible to see even a hair on the general's head from this distance.
"Boss, what are you looking around for?"
Jin-woo, who had been sitting next to me, leaned over to ask and a sly grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Was it because I've seen Jin-woo for so long?
I instantly recognized the smile as the one he wears when he's thinking of something weird, so I stared at the sky, expressionless, and replied.
"I've never been to Cuba before, so I was just looking around."
"That's because the magic is so realistic that it can be compared to the real world."
He leaned in closer.
"So. Did you get any information?"
After the light conversation, he got straight to the point but I didn't want to give away the answer, so I slowly shook my head and replied.
"I don't know."
"Isn't that right, huhuhuh……."
But Jin-woo didn't give up. He naturally put his shoulder to me.
"The boss doesn't know……."
What's wrong with this kid?
"Boss. Who am I?"
"You? Um……asshole?"
"That's right. I'm an asshole…..Not this! I'm our Familia’s one and only assassin!"
"Oh."
I'd forgotten about that.
Well, he was an assassin, for starters, but not the only one, right?
I'm pretty good at stealth and infiltration.
"……So?"
I wondered what the hell he was trying to say.
"That's why I'm here to help you, boss, because you look like you're having a hard time!"
"You?"
"Me!"
I thought he was just trying to get me to tell him the answer, but I realized he had a brilliant idea.
"Really? Where do you think Black Butterfly is?"
"Oh, that's right~"
He said, and pointed to the second floor of the empty mansion.
"If I were her, I'd go after the General up there. Everyone's out partying, security is in the yard, and the inside of the mansion should be deserted by now."
It was definitely Jin-woo's way of expressing his identity with a unique opinion.
"What do you think? Isn't it plausible?"
Jin-woo chuckles, convinced that he's right.
"I'm sure it is. So, if a person sneaks into a mansion with no one around, it's going to attract attention, right?"
"Huh?"
"People would be like, ‘Wow! There's a person on the second floor, what's he doing up there fiddling with a weapon by himself, or something?’"
"Uh……."
"Nice approach, but not a good one considering the villain's name is Black Butterfly, and you didn't look at the assignment the instructor gave you over vacation."
"Uh……?"
I had a feeling he didn’t.
"Black Butterfly is a villain who tamed her butterfly minions to produce and use all sorts of poisons. So maybe we should look at it a little differently."
Still, he seemed to be thinking hard, so I decided to give him a hint.
"Jin-woo, what is the definition of assassination?"
"Uh……to kill someone secretly?"
"Yes. Then how do you secretly kill someone?"
"Shouldn't there be witnesses?"
"What if all the witnesses are dead?"
"Since no one has seen it……it's an assassination?"
"Bingo."
After all, if all the witnesses are dead, we won't know who killed the target.
"Wait, what happens then? If everyone in here dies at once, why isn't this more famous?"
"Because the aftermath was perfect."
This is where external factors come in, more specifically, the specificity of this country, Cuba.
‘Cuban general killed during illegal drug party with friends.’
That was probably the first headline about the incident.
The geography of Cuba and the general's usual personality made it possible.
When I first encountered the case, I thought it was just a normal poisoning case, but as I continued to play, I realized that it was not.
And seeing the scene recreated by Park Yoon-ho was even more convincing.
"Instructor, I know the answer."
I raised my hand, and Park Yoon-ho appeared out of thin air.
"Yes, Cadet Eugene Han, what is the correct answer?"
Instead of answering, I pulled out my pistol and shot down all the butterflies flying around me.
"This, my answer."
The assassins of Black Butterfly had already crept into the garden.
These were the real assassins who had killed everyone.
Disguised as party planners, they decorated the garden to make the butterflies look good, and then slowly poisoned the people they got drunk with drugs so they wouldn't realize they were poisoned.
In other words, the assassin was already out of the picture.
That was the whole story.
"Excellent. Cadet Eugene Han."
The scenery around me slowly crumbles in time to the echoing clap of his hands.
The familiar scene of the classroom unfolded once again.
I look around and see the other kids still sitting in their seats.
"I tested you in pairs, Jin-woo Bevalt and Eugene Han. You two are first."
As he says this, he looks at his wristwatch.
"It took you less than 20 minutes. I thought you'd all be done by now if you'd been working on the assignments I gave you over vacation."
Shaking his head and clicking his tongue, Park Yoon-ho looks over at Jin-woo, who is still confused.
"Jin-woo Bevalt, your plan to assassinate from the second floor of the mansion was a good one."
He must have heard our conversation, because he slowly feeds back to Jin-woo's comments.
“If you hide the body and weapon, and leave the location, the assassination process will eventually be discovered, but you will be able to achieve your goal. Also, depending on your capabilities, you might have been able to escape safely. If you just looked at the assignment, I think you could solve the problem too.”
"Uh……thanks?"
"It's not a compliment. It's a matter of what you can and can't do. It's not about Black butterfly."
The instructor gave Jin-woo a sharp look.
"If you had done your vacation assignment properly, you would have identified the characteristics of Black Butterfly."
The more he said, the more his eyes grew cold.
"But I see you don't have a clue, so you'll have to redo your vacation assignment. Don't scrape it off the internet."
"Hmph."
"Instead, I'll give you a prize, since you got first place anyway."
Looking at the students around him, Park Yoon-ho gently raised the corner of his mouth and said.
"Eugene Han, Jin-woo Bevalt, you two don't have to do today's assignment."
"Oh……."
* * *
~The playground after lunch~
After leaving the kids to do their club work, I was out on the playground getting some air when I saw a man walking toward me.
He had a white bowler hat on his head, wore a black shirt and a white tie. He was a man in a black and white suit.
"Hey, old man, why are you looking so dapper again today?"
It was Kwak Chun-sik, dressed to the nines.
"You're going to meet with people who work for the country, so why are you going to look like a beggar?"
"You're friends with the president anyway."
"There's a distinction between public and private. He's my best friend, after all, and I'm introducing my student, so you should dress up."
……It seemed like it was because of me.
The old man got all dressed up to take care of me.
"How about the lightning, are you okay now?"
"Well, it's as good as if I had a low-frequency treatment."
In fact, my body has changed much faster and harder than before.
I realized that one must eat the good stuff after all.
No, wait…….
"Old man."
"What?"
"How many elixirs did you take?"
Suddenly, I realized that if the old man's diet was good enough, how many elixirs did he take?
He must have a lot of stories to tell.
"Me and the swordsman were the best in Korea at the time, so we ate almost everything between the two of us."
There's no way that body could have been made naturally.
Of course, the old man's Aura control is phenomenal after digesting all those elixirs.
"So, where are we going?"
I asked as we walked out to the parking lot.
His white Jeep was parked in the faculty-only lot. The old man climbed into the driver's seat and replied nonchalantly.
"Gukbap near the National Assembly."
"……Gukbap?"
"Yeouido people don't like to travel far to eat, that's why we meet for lunch. By the way, you haven't eaten, have you?"
"Didn't you tell me not to eat?"
"Yeah, that's okay. That's where the real food is. Gulp!"
As we drove off toward Yeouido, the old man began to give me information about the person we were about to meet.
"The man we're about to meet is a gold-badge politician in the National Assembly. His ability is outstanding, but what can I say……he stinks. Well, if there's a guy with a gold badge who doesn't stink, he's a plus. I guess it’s going to be good.”
Sounds like a contradiction in terms to me.
"What does it mean to suck in a good way?"
"He doesn't care about the process as long as the result is good and the result is for the public good, not his own self-interest."
─A man who would give his life for his country.
“For a member of the National Assembly to have that kind of mentality, wouldn’t it be dangerous and exhausting?”
"……He must be popular with the people."
"That's why he's running for a third term."
"But why would such a person suddenly want to catch a villain?"
"It's because the villain is a threat to him and the country, isn't it? Well, let's talk about it over some soup."
We arrived at a soup restaurant in Yeouido.
It had a shabby exterior, unlike the glittering buildings around it.
"Is this really a restaurant?"
"Yes, it is. Let's go inside."
I was afraid it was haunted but inside, it was very clean and spacious, contrary to my expectations.
"Ah, there you are."
The old man took off his bowler hat and looked at the group sitting at one side of the restaurant.
"Representative Jang!"
"Welcome."
With a wave of their bowler hats, the two men stand up from their seats and do a 90-degree salute.
The older one is presumably the congressman he was talking about, and the other is his aide.
I follow the old man as he heads toward them, noting that he's looking at me closely.
They look at me with their eyes as if to say, "Who are you and why are you standing behind him?”
As if reading my expression, he pats me on the back and introduces me.
"This is Eugene, my student. Eugene, say hello. This is Congressman Jang Jin-yong, a three-term congressman. "
"I'm Eugene Han."
I bow my head to him.
By this repertoire, he should now be introducing himself and extending his hand.
I'm already gauging the timing of the handshake.
"……Eugene……Corleone?"
"Huh?"
Why did that name come out of the congressman's mouth?
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