"Eye of Detection is unable to be used on this target as the Conqueror's level is of too big of a difference from your stats to be accurately detected."
Seunghyuk could only laugh out of distress as he looked at the furious assassin standing in front of him. The atmosphere seemed to become heavier as every second ticked by, Seunghyuk anxiously waited for the masked assassin's next move even though he knew he would most definitely not be able to do anything with the humongous stat point differences.
"Okay, your laughter is really getting on my nerves! I'm really going to kill you regardless of whether you can give me the hundred thousand if you continue laughing," The assassin said as he continued to stalk forward even when Seunghyuk already had no space to retreat, only to come face-to-face with each other, "So, hundred thousand dollars?"
Seunghyuk exhaled heavily and intentionally forced out a laugh with the clear motive of angering the assassin. Seunghyuk's plan worked like a charm, with the bait successfully catching the big fish, however, Seunghyuk did not think about how big the fish was and started to slowly regret his decision.
"You're defying me on purpose, aren't you?" The masked man asked with a forcefully low tone like he was preparing to dice Seunghyuk in halves, then quarters, to eighths and to irreparable pieces, "Forget about the hundred thousand, let's focus on doing some Arts and Crafts on your heart, shall we?"
Seunghyuk hated the ominousness that embraced him with a chilled warmth, making his eyes dart around nervously as his mind thought of all possible ways to escape the current situation. The masked man let out a low grunt and his whole body turned fluid and disappeared into the dark. It was not a favourable period of time for Seunghyuk as in the mid afternoons, there are more than enough shadow spots and lighted areas for the assassin to play with. Seunghyuk did not give himself the benefit of doubt and immediately activated his Short-Fused Explosion skill to increase his stat points up by 5.
"Conqueror's Name: Choi Seunghyuk (Male) (Leader of Legendclad)
Conqueror's Level: 4
Strength: 22 (Raised by 5 temporarily)
Agility: 22 (Raised by 5 temporarily)
Defense: 22 (Raised by 5 temporarily)
MP: 22 (Raised by 5 temporarily)
Skills: Short-Fused Explosion (1 out of 5 stars)
Eye of Detection (1 out of 5 stars)
Heart of Cold Steel (2 out of 5 stars)
Ancient Language Comprehension (1 out of 5 stars)
Snake Of Ophiuchus (0 out of 5 stars)
Dancing With Fire (3 out of 5 stars)"
Seunghyuk conjured another ball of flame to try and defend himself, but the assassin rematerialized right beside of Seunghyuk and caused Seunghyuk to release the fire pulse to the side recklessly, allowing the masked man to easily slip by with his speed and agility in bright and dark conditions. At that point, Seunghyuk felt like he was being played by the gods in the skies, as he was being given a mysterious family ring of unknown origins that helped made him a Conqueror so that he could be currently walking down that exact lane and facing that exact type of villain, and now it felt like the gods have seen enough entertainment and decided to end Seunghyuk's whole entire "Conqueror Career".
"Oh look, you're struggling!" The assassin mocked as he spilt his body into two identical people, moving at different paces and speeds, shocking Seunghyuk as it never occurred to him that splitting, completely on another caliber from cloning, was actually possible, "Don't worry, I'm just going to kill you and get the hundred grand I was offered."
Seunghyuk felt the light of helplessness dawn on his face for the umpteenth time, like he was destined to lose his life when he chose to walk on the oath of Conquerors. The two split figures of the assassin dashed forward and with an insane speed that greatly passed the limit a human eye could detect. Lethal claws appeared on Seunghyuk's body and brought about pain moments later, then the assassin collected his other body and formed into a singular body once again like ink drops collecting into a pool.
"What are you..." Seunghyuk asked, tolerating the searing pain in his chest with all his willpower, "Why would you..."
Seunghyuk thought he could stand up straight and fight, and he thought with the ring, he could stand up tall and upright. Seunghyuk never would have knew that he would have an assassin sent to kill him when he had just become a Conqueror less than 3 days ago. If it isn't fate, it's plain, cruel destiny.
With Seunghyuk's last view being the assassin's masked face, his consciousness slowly drifted off again. It was all silent, no disruptions and no voices that sounded like the System booming loudly in his unconscious head. Seunghyuk's heart was slowly beating dead, but his brain stayed active and alive, still thinking of many other things before he actually shut down. The imaginary area around Seunghyuk stayed quiet, but with a soft breathing audible. Seunghyuk did not try to register the sound but continue to drift off further and further away from shore, helplessness drowned him out as his brain automatically shut down, hearing the last few slow beats of the failing heart before plunging into nothingness.
Nothingness had really nothing, and it was undescribably empty, however, Seunghyuk was not awake to think about how empty nothingness was. Seunghyuk drifted aimlessly and mindlessly in a total vacuum of nothingness before feeling a string electric current course and surge through his veins, shocking his brain awake immediately. Seunghyuk waited actively as he received a second pulse of electricity pulsing through his veins like current in a wire, electrocuting Seunghyuk's heart alive and beating.
"Urgh..." Seunghyuk's eyes flung open and his mind slowly registered his surroundings after being reopened after shutting down into nothingness, "Where is this..."
Seunghyuk's head ached slightly as he recalled the event his last remembered, which was his sudden face-off with an unknown assassin with a high power level that Seunghyuk was not able to even detect with his Eye of Detection skill. Seunghyuk's eyes glanced to both his sides as he noticed the white bedsheets he was lying on, then his eyes flung to a glowing object that was slowly turning dull.
"System: Use...Eye of Detection..." Seunghyuk requested with visible difficulty, the familiar System screen popped up in front of him, showing him details that he thought he would have never been able to see ever again, "This pendant is...whatever that saved me?"
"Item name: Pendant of Lightning Healing (S-Grade Item)
Item Description: Made by both the god of lightning, Zeus, and the god of medicine, Asclepius. It is a pendant that is exhausted to produce a lightning-like flow of medicine into a body that has been heavily injured near death to bring the person back to life.
State: It is already 93.45% used"
Seunghyuk did not bother sitting back up so he continued to lie down on the unfamiliar bed among the white bedsheets, contemplating everything that he could be possibly thinking at that point in time. Seunghyuk asked unanswered questions to himself, but the largest question that weighed on his mind would probably be: Who saved him and why?
Seunghyuk laid on the bed for a good ten minutes before deciding he should get up since he was somewhat healed. The door moved and shifted open as Seunghyuk was trying to prop himself up, revealing a masked man, which not only angered him but also annoyed him deeply. The mask was nothing like the one the assassin had worn, but it triggered very bad memories of what happened not long before.
"I'm sorry for inconveniencing you and thank you for saving my life," Seunghyuk thanked the masked man who walked into the room and grabbed the exhausted pendant on the nightstand beside the bed, replying to Seunghyuk with a weirdly forced voice, "Looks like you're well. Good."
"May I...ask for the reason why you decided to save me?" Seunghyuk asked cautiously, his tone becoming formal and calculatedly thoughtful as he waited for his masked saviour's response, "I have my own reasons and way of seeing things...And that's just how it is..."
Seunghyuk listened as the unknown man spoke through his mask with the weird pressing voice again. Curiosity crept across Seunghyuk's body like a spider walking up onto his body, making him tingle and shudder with curiosity. Seunghyuk knew what he was about to do would be disrespectful to someone who had just saved his life, but he had to do some things he would have never done if he did not step into the path of a Conqueror.
"System: Use Eye of Detection..." Seunghyuk commanded under his breath as he feigned wiping the underside of his nose to hide his lip movements, "Who is he...What?"
"Conqueror's Name: Jeon Jisung (Male)
Conqueror's Rank(Legendclad): Gold (Head of Gold-ranked Members)
Conqueror's Level: 4
Strength: 18 (raised by 1 since last checked)
Agility: 20
Defense: 18 (raised by 1 since last checked)
MP: 22
Skills: Blade Dance (3 out of 5 stars)
Horse of Three Kingdoms (3 out of 5 stars)
Reed Of Speed (2 out of 5 stars)
Aquarius's Water Jug(2 out of 5 stars)
One With The Surroundings(1 out of 5 stars)"
Seunghyuk stared at the System screen in disbelief, mouth slowly opening and his eyes drifted slowly to look at the masked Jisung in his face. The surroundings were silent and the mysteriously dressed-up Jisung raised his eyebrows in confusion, clearly not knowing that Seunghyuk had already knew his actual identity.
Seunghyuk merely laid back down on the bed and tugged the white bedsheets near to himself smiling. Seunghyuk never had anybody helping him like Jisung did before, so he felt a new emotion which seemed unfamiliar to him. The unfamiliarity slowly set in and the brain registered its existence as a form of normality. Seunghyuk looked at Jisung straight in his eyes again and sighed softly, enjoying the mere thought of himself having someone to even worry or even care him about. It was a feeling so special that it was unable to put into words.