Solo Leveling- Ragnarok

Chapter 145:

The sea of ??the afterlife.

Kang Tae-sik's soul was falling into the endless darkness.

'...Is this death?'

The moment of pain was short, but the moment of death was extremely long.

In an instant.

The abyss that seemed to last forever was dragging his soul down.

In the continuing fall, Kang Tae-sik's soul... ...I was looking at the flashlight.

Fragments of his life were unfolding before him like a panorama.

And at every moment, he was harming someone's life.

'Kill, kill, kill...' ....'

Suddenly, Kang Tae-sik looked down at his blood-soaked hands.

Yes.

Since awakening this ability, he has killed many people with his own two hands.

There was never a day when the blood would dry on these hands.

Even when I thought about it, I really thought I was crazy... ...It was fun.

But even so, the period is only two years.

Although he had been caught by the police for committing petty crimes before, it was only two years before he became a villain hunter in earnest and began to enjoy killing.

...but.

Clap la la la rock!

As the flashes of light continued, Kang Tae-sik's appearance in those memories became increasingly younger.

And at the end, the 'memory of that day' was finally revealed.

'...Yes, that was the beginning.'

For a moment, a blue glow appeared in the eyes of Kang Tae-sik, who was falling into the abyss of death.

Flash!

At that moment, he saw a beaten boy in front of him.

-You b*stard! If only you weren't there! die! die! die! die! I mean, get out and fall!

-Ahh! Ah, Dad...! I was wrong! Argh! please! It hurts so much...! Argh!

Broken liquor bottle.

A narrow and messy room.

There, there was a small boy being trampled mercilessly by a very drunk man.

In those memories, the boy's body was always covered in bruises, and he was always crying out loud.

It hurts.

Stop hitting me.

That I was wrong.

But the more I did this, the more my father's kicks became stronger.

After years of harsh beatings, the boy finally realized.

To avoid being beaten by my father any more.

That you have to become strong.

The first way to become stronger is to stop crying.

-Off! Turn it off...!

No matter how painful or scary it was, if I covered my mouth and held back even the screams that were trying to escape, my father's beatings lessened. very little.

And I had to kill them as much as possible.

So as not to disobey my father.

No, I had to become completely invisible.

If you make a sound, your father will wake up.

Then my father will drink again.

Then again...Because you're going to beat yourself up.

So, I had to live as if I was not at home as much as possible.

He held his breath so that his strong and scary father's anger would not be directed at him.

Then suddenly.

'...ah.'

The boy realized.

The fact that there is the easiest and simplest way to avoid being beaten.

'Ah, this will do.'

Why didn't I realize it?

It was supposed to be like this from the beginning.

So, seven-year-old Kang Tae-sik.

With those two small hands.

'I killed my father.'

That was the 'first murder' committed by Kang Tae-sik.

And surprisingly, no one knew about it until now.

No, no one was curious in the first place.

No one could have imagined that that little seven-year-old kid would have murdered his own father.

Police officers and doctors.

Everything happened just by accident.

It just ended with a drunkard getting into an accident.

...And so on.

The boy, who had erased the existence of his father from the world through his own power, looked down at his blood-soaked hands and realized.

'I am strong.'

Yes.

It turned out that he was strong.

Enough to kill that scary father.

When Kang Tae-sik realized that fact, he was overcome with pleasure so intense that he shivered.

Ah, yes.

Just kill it and that's it.

No matter how scary a person is.

Even strong people.

'Because all humans die!'

From then on, Kang Tae-sik was not afraid of anything.

Because I am stronger now.

Because he could kill anyone he wanted.

Of course, they were not criminals who were crazy about murder, and they had no intention of killing just anyone.

He just...I just realized that murder is an option as a way to solve a problem.

As time passed, a cataclysm occurred on Earth.

Demonic beasts appeared.

Kang Tae-sik was lucky enough to awaken as a hunter, and when he saw the demonic beasts coming out of the dungeon and brutally tearing people to death, he sighed.

'What, they're no different from demonic beasts.'

It's just that it looks a little unusual.

In the end, isn't killing someone something that anyone can do, whether it's a demonic beast or not?

No, in the first place, there must have been far more people killed by humans than those killed by demonic beasts throughout human history, right?

To be honest, it was steamy.

But that was then.

The 'association president' came to see him.

-Taesik Kang. Did you awaken recently?

-...What is it? Have you been quiet these days?

-know. That's why I came.

-What are you talking about, you old man?

At first, I was shocked by his sudden visit.

Woo Jin-cheol, the president of the association, was once a detective who personally shackled both wrists when he committed a minor crime.

But then they suddenly set up a strange organization like the Hunter Association, and what?

-I was thinking about what to do with you, and a good idea came to me.

Association President Woo Jin-cheol smiled meaningfully at himself and immediately made a strange suggestion.

– Taesik Kang, I created a certificate called 'Association Certified Bounty Hunter' for you.

-what is that?

-So-called a license to kill allowed by the country.

-...Are you out of your mind?

-why? So you don't like it?

-....

Of course, I was a little dissatisfied with that unlucky face that I had no doubt would accept his offer.

In the end, Kang Tae-sik could not resist Woo Jin-cheol's proposal.

Because honestly, it was attractive.

These are people you can kill.

They give you money if you commit murder.

'okay. 'Killing people is much easier and more fun than killing demonic beasts.'

That's how Kang Tae-sik became a bounty hunter, and over the past two years, he killed hundreds of villains with his own two hands.

'Hehe. 'I killed so many people.'

Kang Tae-sik's soul, wandering the sea after death, chuckled as he watched each and every moment of the many murders.

But why?

As their deaths piled up in the blink of an eye, Kang Tae-sik's soul was becoming more and more buried in the darkness.

In the darkness, hundreds of hands came out and dragged Kang Tae-sik's soul deeper and deeper like evil spirits.

'Let go, you b*stards! It's suffocating! Breathing... ...Wow... ...!'

When I looked again, I saw that the place was a pit that Kang Tae-sik had created with his own hands.

And that was then.

[Cluck. What a delicious-looking evil spirit.]

'...!'

Kang Tae-sik's soul suddenly trembled at the sound of the old man's laughter echoing from beyond the darkness.

An instinctive feeling of rejection came over me.

At that moment, Taesik Kang realized.

The fact that his soul is now caught in the middle of a magic circle made of red threads.

The witch doctor grabbed Kang Tae-sik's soul like a spider's web and did not let go.

and.

[come here. I will personally turn you into a demon spirit.]

Suddenly, a thin old man's hand appeared from the darkness and grabbed his hair.

'Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah... ...!'

At that moment, a sharp pain struck me as if my limbs were being torn apart.

Kang Tae-sik let out a terrible scream and struggled desperately to escape from the giant old man's hands.

But even that was just entertainment for the old man.

[Cluck. That's a good scream. It is the perfect material for making demonic spirits.]

'Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!'

[okay. doing well. You are chewing up and swallowing all the sins you have committed with your own hands. The process may be painful, but if you endure it....]

Beyond the darkness, the old man smiled, showing his white teeth.

[...] ...Because you will be reborn as a thoroughly corrupted soul who will feel that pain forever!]

――――――!

Eventually, the red magic circle was completed.

The old man's huge hand grabbed Kang Tae-sik's soul and lifted it up.

[Hehehe! Now you fallen demon! Now you are my... ...!]

It was then.

-Get up.

A ray of darkness that came down from a high place illuminated Kang Tae-sik's soul.

Damn it!

The power of darkness tore apart the red magic circle.

[What is this...!]

The old man burst out in confusion and let go of the hand that was holding Kang Tae-sik's soul.

'Ah, this power... ....'

Kang Tae-sik, who was forcibly dragged up into the darkness, trembled in a different way.

'What the hell is this memory... ....'

Suddenly, memories from my past life that had been completely buried in my memory began to emerge like a flash of light.

For some reason, even in those memories... ...He was covered in blood and dying.

And in front of him as he was dying, he saw a man coldly looking down at him.

-Let me ask you just one question.

As I faced those cool eyes, I asked myself this.

-What the hell are you? Assassination class has healing magic... ...Moreover, I've never heard of it being able to use debuff magic.

However, the man was asking questions rather than answering his own questions.

-...If I'm a hunter who grows every time I fight, how strong do you think I can become?

-her....

Kang Tae-sik couldn't help but laugh at that absurd question.

Are you asking because you don't know that?

-Your shadow... ...It's connected to the darkness.

Death is strength.

-As deep as that...You will become stronger.

Shwaaaaaaaa!

Two deaths.

Two lives.

At the end... ....

Kang Tae-sik's soul walked out into the world again.

[Shadow Assassin Lv.1]

knight rank

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[...] ...Great Shadow.]

Kang Tae-sik, who was reborn as an assassin with black vapor wafting from his entire body, approached Su-ho, who had called him, and knelt on one knee and bowed his head.

Then, with an even more ruthless spirit shining in his eyes, he asked in a very solemn manner.

[Who can I kill?]

"...."

And I thought.

Suho's eyes looking down at himself like this... ....

He said that the look in his eyes was very similar to that of the man who once killed him.

Soon, Suho's cold gaze turned to the numerous villains attacking him from all directions.

They are murderers who killed all the innocent people living in this village and took over the village.

There was no mercy to be shown to them.

"entire. "Kill him."

[...] ...As instructed.]

The moment Suho's order was given.

The figure of Kang Tae-sik, the shadow assassin, disappeared on the spot.