Assassination is a comprehensive art.
You have to consider everything.
That was why, the moment he was summoned, Kosak always surveyed his surroundings and assessed the situation first.
Even while greeting his summoner, it was a habitual action.
It took Kosak only three seconds to grasp the situation in the venue—just one sweeping glance was enough to understand how things were unfolding.
First priority: the safety of Summoner Bong.
Above all else, that mattered the most.
For now, he was safe.
The energy barrier was active.
A few bullets wouldn't be a problem.
However, he was shielding someone with his own body.
The very person who should have been prioritizing his own safety.
Ahhh…
Summoner Bong was too kind for his own good.
Far too considerate.
This guy appeared to be Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il.
A stupid bastard. A shameless bastard.
He should be the one protecting Summoner Bong, yet he was being protected instead?
And on top of that, he'd dragged him into such a dangerous situation?
There was a reason people said that life outside the Tower was more dangerous to players than Tower climbing itself.
In any case, there were two points of trouble.
One was on the stage—the woman being held hostage.
A face often seen on the news.
Player Nam Gaeun.
She was, in her own way, an acquaintance of the summoner.
If she died or was injured, it would seriously upset him.
And then, on the opposite side—
Five armed assailants threatening people with gun barrels.
They were wearing helmets and body armor.
What to do?
Resolving both points of trouble at once was too much, even for Kosak.
If he dealt with the gunmen first, Nam Gaeun would be in danger.
If he saved Nam Gaeun first, gunfire would put everyone else at risk.
To be honest, he didn't care if other people died.
So what?
That was just their fate.
What he feared was hurting the gentle heart of Summoner Bong.
That was why he'd suggested summoning Gobang.
He would be summoned shortly.
So where should he go?
The conclusion was clear.
Have Gobang handle the armed assailants, clean up the stage first, then regroup.
Spot!
Kosak's figure vanished in an instant.
Deliberate arson on Gwanak Mountain.
Hijacking of an aerial firefighting helicopter.
Threatening the pilot and landing on the HG Hotel helipad.
Blowing out the venue's exterior glass wall with bomb drones.
Leaving one man behind on the firefighting helicopter to monitor the pilot.
Entering the venue with five team members, including himself.
To accomplish this, one player had been infiltrated into the venue in advance.
After the drone attack, they needed hostages to secure control and ensure safe entry.
They bribed a long-time hotel employee.
With an amount of money he couldn't possibly refuse.
By now, that employee was probably already on a flight to China.
The top-priority hostage had originally been CEO Goyeon Ha.
But just before the operation, the target changed.
Nam Gaeun.
Korea's top player modeling at a showcase?
Goyeon Ha was discarded.
With the top player as a hostage, no one would dare move.
The plan had gone off without a hitch.
So perfect it was almost frightening.
There was one more crucial point.
Since the main targets of the terror were players, something had to be checked without fail.
Whether the elite players had already entered the Tower that day.
Once per day—had they already entered, or not?
That had been checked.
The Chinese Special Intelligence Department's primary task was player abduction.
They had conducted countless operations—there was no way they'd miss that.
Korean elite players belonged to the state.
They were obligated to clear the Tower.
Once per day.
Whether upper-floor challenges or repeat runs.
They had to record their progress with body cams and submit it to the Management Agency.
Tower climbing usually happened in the morning.
After fulfilling their duty, afternoons were for leisure.
Nam Gaeun was no exception.
Her Tower entry waiting area was the Management Agency.
Her routine was working out at the agency gym in the morning, then entering the Tower.
Of course, not everyone followed the same pattern.
Even now—
Pop! Pop! Pop!
He could see about three players fleeing into the Tower.
Well, small fry could be ignored.
In any case, the capture of Player Nam Gaeun was a success.
And with that, greed began to surface.
Was it really necessary to kill Nam Gaeun?
Her value as a hostage was greater than even the Korean president's.
As long as they kept her with them, they would be safe.
If we can keep her as a hostage and take her with us…
Of course, not to China, but to a third country—say, North Korea?
If they could safely reach North Korean territory, the game would be over.
No one would be able to pursue them.
Hmph. A bunch of fools.
The Korean police and NIS agents stood frozen, eyes darting around but bodies unmoving.
Pathetic.
These were the people Deng Guanlin's team had lost to?
Ridiculous.
Xiao Jun signaled with his hand to the team member holding Nam Gaeun hostage.
Keep the hostage alive. Apply pressure only.
Kill everyone else here.
The team member nodded.
All right… let's begin.
At that very moment—
Spot!
Someone suddenly appeared on the stage.
"…Huh?"
Right behind the team member holding a blade to Nam Gaeun's neck—
So silently that no one noticed his arrival.
And then—
Slash!
Thud!
A hand dropped to the floor.
"…!"
Xiao Jun's eyes widened. What was that?
Meanwhile—
The team member who had been holding the knife hadn't even realized his hand had been severed yet.
He heard something fall and looked down.
"…That's a hand. Is it… a human one?"
It looked extremely familiar.
So did the knife clutched in the severed hand.
There wasn't even any blood—it looked like a fake hand from a mannequin.
Feeling unsettled, he looked at his own arm.
"Gah!"
A wrist cut clean through.
"W-why… why is my hand—?"
He looked once at the hand on the floor, then once at his own severed wrist.
"Just what—"
At the same time—
Slash!
A hot sensation flared across his neck.
Thud!
His head separated from his body and bounced onto the stage.
Thud! Thud-thud!
Like a ball—
Thud-thud-thud! Tutu-tutu-tutu…
Then his body, still standing upright, toppled backward.
Thump!
The onlookers fell silent.
Nam Gaeun, who had just been held hostage, stood there blankly, stunned.
So did Xiao Jun.
It felt like watching a stage play.
He was seeing it with his own eyes, yet he couldn't believe it.
"…K-kill."
"What?"
"K-kill them. A-all of them. K-kill them!"
Only then did the team members snap out of it.
They raised their automatic rifles toward the crowd, fingers tightening on the triggers—
Swoooooosh!
Something gigantic suddenly grew right in front of them.
They lifted their heads to look.
"Ah!"
"Wh-what—what is that?!"
"Aaaah…"
A human—no, a giant.
An enormous body, so tall his head nearly touched the ceiling.
Was this a movie set?
A fashion show venue?
At that moment—
"KUOOOAAAAAH!!!"
A roar thundered out, loud enough to burst eardrums.
Xiao Jun and the special intelligence team members froze solid.
A howl that clawed at humanity's most primal fear—knees buckled on their own.
Hands holding guns trembled violently.
A trigger was pulled unconsciously.
Rat-a-tat! Ratatatatatatat!
No one knew who fired first.
It wasn't even with the intent to kill.
It was pure instinct, born of terror.
Thud! Thud-thud-thud! Puh-puh-puh!
Gobang took every bullet head-on.
If he manifested Diamond Skin, the bullets would ricochet—but if even one round flew toward the summoner, that couldn't be allowed.
Besides, the bullets couldn't pierce his skin anyway.
They just stung a little.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three steps were all Gobang needed to close the distance.
He grabbed one assailant's helmet with a hand and applied a little force.
Crunch! Crack!
The helmet shattered—and so did the skull beneath it.
Helmet fragments embedded themselves in the head, making it even more gruesome.
Another one—
Crunch! Crack!
These were the bastards who dared threaten the summoner.
The summoner who gave him a name, who bought him delicious beef.
Ideally, he'd break every bone in their bodies and let them die slowly in agony—but if the summoner were endangered in the slightest, that was unacceptable. So he finished it as quickly as possible.
He grabbed the leg of one man struggling to change magazines—
"Gyaaaah!"
—and slammed him straight into another.
Whiiish! Crack!
Like swinging a weapon—
Whiiish! Crack! Whiiish! Crack!
After three swings, both the "weapon" and the target were equally reduced to bloody pulp.
Xiao Jun stared at the scene, frozen in terror.
"…Heh."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Was he fighting monsters inside the Tower?
But he wasn't a player.
This couldn't be the Tower.
Xiao Jun pulled a grenade hanging from his chest.
There was nothing else he could do.
At that instant—
Slash!
The hand holding the grenade was severed.
"This is how you do S-Slash. Clean. No blood splatter—keeps things tidy."
S-Slash?
"Don't worry. Before, I didn't know any better and wiped everyone out—regretted it. I should've left one alive. I'll leave you alive. These country's civil servants need something to do, don't they?"
Only then did he understand.
It was him.
The being who had annihilated Deng Guanlin's team.
If I'd known from the start, I never would've made such a plan…
Thud!
A fist slammed into his face.
Teeth scattered across the floor.
Xiao Jun lost consciousness.
Things here were cleaned up.
Kosak gazed quietly at the ropes hanging outside the shattered window.
"Hm."
They must've come down from the rooftop.
Fast work—right to the end.
Leap!
Kosak launched himself, grabbed the rope, and climbed upward.
A helicopter came into view.
And a man pointing a gun at the pilot's head.
Good thing I came.
Crown Prince bin Sala was still dazed.
Korea's top player, Nam Gaeun, had been taken hostage.
Then the drone attack.
The venue's glass walls shattered, and armed assailants in helmets and body armor stormed in.
Bin Sala recalled the incident in the United Arab Emirates, when state-affiliated players had been massacred in a terrorist attack.
It was trauma he still hadn't overcome.
And now, terrorism even in Korea—where he'd thought it was safe.
His guards were shielding him tightly, but with just pistols, what could they possibly do?
Then—
A man suddenly appeared on the stage and rescued the hostage, Nam Gaeun.
The moment bin Salah saw him, he knew who it was.
"…Gobang?"
No doubt about it.
The player who had saved the United Arab Emirates.
Why is he here…?
How he appeared didn't matter.
Knowing what kind of power he possessed, bin Salah finally felt relief.
With an awed expression, he looked at Gobang on the stage.
Their eyes met naturally.
But the moment Gobang recognized him, his face twisted into a deep scowl.
A chill ran down his spine.
Did I do something wrong…? Ah!
Was it because he'd mentioned the name "Gobang" during that interview?
That had to be it.
They'd agreed to keep it secret.
D-does that mean I'm next too?
Did I come to Korea for nothing?
At that moment—
"KUOOOAAAH!"
A roar filled the entire venue.
Everyone's gaze snapped in the same direction.
"Ah—"
"Th-that—?"
"A giant?"
"N-no, what the—?"
"My god?"
There was no other word for it but huge.
So massive that the armed assailants were completely hidden behind its bulk.
Gunfire erupted, but the assailants were taken down in an instant.
Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il saw and heard everything clearly.
Player Bong Juhyeok was still standing beside him.
The words he'd spoken when he realized Nam Gaeun had been taken hostage—after saving him—
"…Summon."
That's right.
It hadn't been perfectly clear, but he had definitely said summon.
Then a man had appeared in a burst of light.
After exchanging a few words with Player Bong, he was suddenly on the stage.
And then, once more—
Summon.
This time, a man of overwhelming size appeared.
The first man had rescued Nam Gaeun from danger.
The second, a giant, crushed the enemies without flinching despite the hail of bullets.
So that's what it was.
Summoning.
It felt as though every mystery had fallen into place.
Jeon Gwang-il turned his head toward Player Bong Juhyeok.
"Um… excuse me, could it be that—"
"Ah, well… y-yes. You're probably thinking the right thing."
That's enough.
There was no need to ask further.
What more was there to say?
He'd seen everything with his own eyes.
Wait—this isn't the time.
First, he checked the cameras installed for the YouTube livestream.
They were still pointed toward the stage.
Even if Nam Gaeun's rescue had been broadcast, the other scenes likely hadn't been captured.
Then he walked over to NIS First Deputy Director Noh Young-geun, who was still dazed.
"Deputy Director."
"…Ah—y-yes."
"Immediately confiscate the smartphones of everyone here. We don't know if photos or videos were taken."
"Ah! Understood."
"And that guy doesn't look dead yet—arrest him."
Only then did the NIS agents begin moving.
He had a lot to say.
Back when Yoo Cheol-min was naturalized, during the attempted elite player abduction, and now again—
He wasn't sure he could continue trusting them.
It might be better to form an independent team altogether.
Hoo… at least we need to stop the footage from spreading.
But that was wishful thinking.
What good was confiscating phones?
Everything would already be backed up to the cloud.
Jeon Gwang-il turned his gaze back to the stage.
Nam Gaeun sat slumped there, utterly shaken.
Thankfully, medical staff and Management Agency employees were already rushing to tend to her.
Of course, he should be over there too—
But first—
"Player Bong, thank you for saving lives."
"Oh, come on, I didn't really do anything…"
Juhyeok waved his hands in a fluster.
Please don't look at me like that.
It's uncomfortable.
I just called a couple of older brothers I know.
They just happen to be… a bit unusual.
"Who do you think these people were… China, perhaps?"
"We'll need to investigate, but it does seem very likely they're Chinese."
Figured as much.
Ignorant bastards.
But now the question was—should he just let this go?
In the past, when he was a pathetic loser, he'd swallowed injustice and moved on.
But now things were different.
Now, if he said please teach them a lesson, reliable older brothers and sisters would rush out immediately.
That's how it works—when a loser has athlete older siblings, even bullies don't dare touch him.
I'll tell them when I get home.
That China did this.
The situation seemed mostly under control now.
Sorry, but it was time to send Gobang back first.
Juhyeok casually waved at Gobang.
Gobang nodded.
Dismiss summon.
Spot!
The massive body vanished without a trace.
People murmured in shock at even that sight.
I really caused a huge incident.
His worries piled up like mountains.
How was he supposed to clean this up?
Would it even be possible?
But he didn't regret it.
If he'd done nothing just to protect his secret—
What greater evil karma could there be?
He'd deserve to be struck dead by lightning.