Instant Kill, Time-Stop Spellcaster

He crossed the line.

It must have been about the family.

The moment he heard that, the branch manager realized.

‘It’s Kang Hyun.’

He pressed his hand against the hole in his abdomen and pleaded.

“I’m sorry. Please spare me. Please save me.”

But he didn’t even know if the words were coming out.

No sound was heard.

Kang Hyun, without a care, swung the sword behind the branch manager.

Swoosh, swoosh.

The necks of the subordinates fell off in an instant.

Without a sound.

Some of them were awakened ones.

But they were just low-level awakened ones in modern times, nothing more than their stats.

How could they possibly touch Kang Hyun in the ‘Shadow Chamber’?

‘The mana’s already drained.’

Even though it was E-tier mana, it quickly ran out.

He had deliberately used the incantation on an object, not an awakened one, but it still happened.

‘Composite incantations are still a bit overwhelming.’

After the situation ended, the branch manager muttered to himself.

“Who are you? How is this possible?”

“You’ve been looking at my profile, right?”

But the ‘Kang Hyun’ on the profile was only F-tier.

Soon, the branch manager flinched.

What part was spoken, and what part was his inner thoughts?

He was confused because he couldn’t even hear his own voice.

“I used to be quite a renowned assassin in my day.”

In the silent space where all sound and light had died.

Only Kang Hyun’s words were clear in the branch manager’s ears.

That made it even more terrifying.

Kang Hyun had fought against many assassins.

He was skilled in assassination himself.

Kyle also had many people he needed to kill.

“Tell me everything you know. Then I’ll send you off nicely.”

Saying that, he rummaged through the vault’s ledger.

“Oh, gold? Wow, so this is what gold bars look like. In my time, they were coins. Thanks, I’ll make good use of it.”

The branch manager remained silent.

So, he continued to go through the ledger.

Then…

“Look at this. You’re not alone, are you?”

The contents of the ledger were quite interesting.

The guilds that Aden had been considering, ‘Seonghwa’ and ‘Palan’.

Surprisingly, Palan was their backer.

“Wow… the 5th largest guild in Korea? This could be the plot of a noir movie.”

But that wasn’t the end of it.

The more he looked, the more ridiculous it became.

“…Huh.”

Kang hyun put the ledger into his inventory.

“Hey.”

“….”

“You guys were working with the demon race, weren’t you?”

The Legion of the Black World Tree, demons.

They had become traitors by teaming up with them.

To be exact, one of the executives of Judgment.

B-grade mage Oh Hyeok soo.

He was the owner of this branch and a traitor.

“You’ve really taken a lot from them.”

They were receiving support from the demons in exchange for killing new awakened ones.

A horrific idea.

“Does Palan know about this? No, if they did, they wouldn’t have left it like this.”

The interrogation of the branch manager was quickly finished.

This ledger alone was enough.

He decapitated the branch manager.

Rustle

He stored the body in his spatial pocket.

He would deal with it in the dungeon.

‘…No.’

He changed his mind.

He only took the branch manager’s head and threw it on the desk.

Leaving behind evidence of the murder.

With just that, there would be no pursuit.

This was a minimal warning.

A warning to Palan.

‘It’s done.’

Debt paid off, for real!

He left the office.

Ding!

[Skill has been created.]

‘Oh.’

Could this also be max level?

‘No.’

It was level 4.

What’s level 4 like?

He’d have to find out.

After finishing the task, he was about to leave when…

Wait!

‘Ah.’

On the desk, there were documents with the profiles of his family.

“[Ignite]”

Whoosh.

The determined flame spread quickly.

Until it engulfed the office.

Kang hyun calmly slipped away and merged into the darkness.

###

Here is the translation of the provided text:

Kyle also had many people he needed to kill.

“Tell me everything you know. Then I’ll send you off nicely.”

Saying that, he rummaged through the vault’s ledger.

“Oh, gold? Wow, so this is what gold bars look like. In my time, they were coins. Thanks, I’ll make good use of it.”

The branch manager remained silent.

So, he continued to go through the ledger.

Then…

“Look at this. You’re not alone, are you?”

The contents of the ledger were quite interesting.

The guilds that Aden had been considering, ‘Seonghwa’ and ‘Paran’.

Surprisingly, Paran was their backer.

“Wow… the 5th largest guild in Korea? This could be the plot of a noir movie.”

But that wasn’t the end of it.

The more he looked, the more ridiculous it became.

“…Huh.”

Kanghyun put the ledger into his inventory.

“Hey.”

“….”

“You guys were working with the demon race, weren’t you?”

The Legion of the Black World Tree, demons.

They had become traitors by teaming up with them.

To be exact, one of the executives of Judgment.

B-grade mage Oh Hyeoksoo.

He was the owner of this branch and a traitor.

“You’ve really taken a lot from them.”

They were receiving support from the demons in exchange for killing new awakened ones.

A horrific idea.

“Does Paran know about this? No, if they did, they wouldn’t have left it like this.”

The interrogation of the branch manager was quickly finished.

This ledger alone was enough.

He decapitated the branch manager.

Rustle

He stored the body in his spatial pocket.

He would deal with it in the dungeon.

‘…No.’

He changed his mind.

He only took the branch manager’s head and threw it on the desk.

Leaving behind evidence of the murder.

With just that, there would be no pursuit.

This was a minimal warning.

A warning to Paran.

‘It’s done.’

Debt paid off, for real!

He left the office.

Ding!

[Skill has been created.]

‘Oh.’

Could this also be max level?

‘No.’

It was level 4.

What’s level 4 like?

He’d have to find out.

After finishing the task, he was about to leave when…

Stop!

‘Ah.’

On the desk, there were documents with the profiles of his family.

“[Burn brightly]”

Whoosh.

The determined flame spread quickly.

Until it engulfed the office.

Kanghyun calmly slipped away and merged into the darkness.

Aden stared blankly at the TV.

“Wow… From the murder of an awakened person by a loan shark, to things like this. The world these days seems so frightening.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

The world is truly terrifying.

Humans even join forces with demons.

“Disciple, what’s a skill level 4 like?”

“Level?” Aden explained.

Level 3 is expert level.

“When awakened of the same level face off, if one has a level 3 skill, it’s an easy win.”

Level 5 is mastery.

“A level 5 skill grants a one-tier boost in rank.”

“Does the system raise it?”

“The system stays the same, but it’s the rank assigned by society. International standard ranks.”

A rank D will be upgraded to C, and so on.

Level 7 is said to be the pinnacle.

“A level 5 skill holder can defeat a stronger opponent,” it’s the general consensus.

“That’s more impactful than I thought. Is it hard to level up?”

“It’s extremely difficult. I don’t have any skills yet.”

But Kang hyun was a Reincarnator.

Thanks to this, his skills were rapidly growing.

Only those from his past life, though.

“But level 7 is the highest? What about beyond that?”

“We don’t know. There are only a few level 7 skill holders in the world.”

Level 8 holders might not even exist.

Level 9 is in the realm of fantasy.

‘Level 4 seems quite high.’

As he continued watching TV, a call came in.

It was from Chief Choi.

Ring ring

“Yes, Kang hyun speaking.”

<…That’s not what I meant.>

There was a brief pause, as if he was looking around.

<…About yesterday’s arson and murder. I’m asking if it was you.>

“Haha, how could I possibly do that?”

Chief Choi seemed to already be certain it was Kang hyun.

But there was surprise in his voice.

No matter how perfect an awakened one was, this wasn’t something that could be done with just clearing a dungeon.

Kang hyun was an E-grade.

The others?

They were experienced awakened murderers, all with higher grades.

In normal circumstances, no way Kang hyun could have done this.

But the timing was too perfect.

Just the day before, they had discussed this loan shark branch.

And the oddity of the case didn’t end there.

“Are you close with the police?”

His voice was serious.

“Just because he killed a few low-grade people, you’re calling it an A-grade?”

The police were at their wit’s end.

Modern forensic science couldn’t catch this.

If he decided to shake up society?

What couldn’t he do?

For example, if he decided to kill off the members of the National Assembly one by one?

“Still, the weight of an A-grade name is heavy. They’re all too scared.”

“It won’t escalate, so don’t worry. The police won’t catch the culprit.”

<….>

“They’re just scared, let them be.”

There was a brief pause.

If their paths diverged here?

They’d go their separate ways.

It seemed they reached an understanding.

As expected of Chief Choi.

“By the way, Chief Choi. Do you have time today?”

“Then, let’s meet for a bit?”

This wasn’t something to discuss over the phone.

###

Arriving at the Awakening Headquarters.

He paused briefly outside the private meeting room.

Chief Choi was inside.

“[silence]”

Swoosh.

An invisible soundproof barrier surrounded the meeting room.

“Oh! A new Word command? What’s this?”

“Let’s go in.”

He opened the door and entered.

Chief Choi greeted him enthusiastically.

“Oh no! You still haven’t gotten over your cold!”

“It’s not a cold.”

“Let’s have some warm tea!”

It was caffeine-free grain tea.

As expected of Section Chief Choi. Good taste.

Slurp.

“I don’t know why you’re here, but listening to the people’s voices is the duty of a civil servant! Feel free to speak.”

“I need help with one thing.”

“Help? Haha! Finally asking for help! Let’s hear it!”

His voice was full of confidence.

“Yesterday, I got the ledger from the burned company.”

“Oh! You did well! Now we can wipe them out—”

“That company was a subsidiary of Palan Guild. They’ve been dealing with demons.”

“….”

Section Chief Choi, who had been so confident, froze.

It seemed he was greatly shocked.

Aden seemed to feel the change in the air as well.

Section Chief Choi straightened his back, sensing something unusual.

“This is something you’d believe was straight out of a movie script, wouldn’t you?”

“…I don’t think this is something I can handle on my own.”

“I know.”

That’s probably true.

No matter how influential he was, he was still just a department head.

Kang Hyun was used to this scale of things, but for Chief Choi, it was a burden too heavy to bear.

“They’re definitely pests that are eating away at the country. I want to put them all on the execution block right now. But…”

Chief Choi was just an ordinary person.

Just as one cannot feed the world’s hunger, one cannot end every war in the world.

This was a problem on a scale that was impossible to handle.

“In this modern world where awakeners are the nation’s power, large guilds… are pretty much warlords on their own.”

And exposing this would lead to a situation where one of them would have to die.

“I’ll handle it, so just bring me the relevant information. Only what’s feasible, of course.”

“Oh, you’re handling it yourself? This is not something to approach recklessly!”

Wow, it’s like hearing the same thing from a hundred years ago.

‘This is what everyone said when I was going to kill the World Tree,’ he thought.

But in the end, he sealed it.

Even though he died, somehow both sides ended up being resurrected.

But it wasn’t pointless.

The war had pushed the demons back, and as a result, Thea wasn’t consumed.

“They’re enemies that no individual can handle. Kang Hyun, you need to stop here.”

That’s true.

But I’m not just any individual.

“Chief Choi.”

“Yes…”

“I know, because I’ve lived it. One person can’t defeat an organization.”

In front of war, an individual becomes helpless.

He knew that from seeing countless atrocities.

“But I can.”

I know because I’ve done it.

Once I do it, it works.

“If you’re going to work with me, know this.”

A hero doesn’t walk according to others.

“If I say I’ll do it, I’ll do it, and if I say it’ll happen, it will. So, be prepared ahead of time.”

“I understand, I’ll keep that in mind.”

There was a strange determination in his voice.

It seemed like he understood it well.

“…Master, but to say everything will work out, you did kind of ruin the academy—”

“Shut it.”

Ugh, why is the academy coming up now?

“Hey! They were all talentless, what was I supposed to do about it?”

“Why are you yelling at me? Is the academy’s failure my fault?!”

Anyway!

“Get ready right now. The name of that executive is Oh Hyuk-Soo, right? We’re going to release the ledgers and spread them to the media.”

It’s going to stir up a storm in South Korea.

This is no small matter.

“I’ll lead them to cut off their tail. Once the rotten tail’s size and the members are clear, we strike.”

Chief Choi, who had been quietly listening, asked with a stiff face:

“Forgive me for asking, but…”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been called an extreme nationalist since I was young.”

“That makes sense, seeing as you wanted to put them on the execution block.”

Seems like he’s not too different from me.

“But why are you doing this, Kang Hyun? What’s your purpose?”

“Why, you ask?”

This time, it was Kang Hyun’s turn to question.

Why?

“What are you talking about? I said they’re in bed with demons, right? Of course, they all have to die.”

“…”

Chief Choi was left speechless.

It was clear he hadn’t expected such an answer.

Kang Hyun’s mindset was simple: demons must die. If something harms humanity, it must die.

It was a perfectly natural way of thinking for him.

He didn’t kill because he was a hero, he became a hero because he killed.

That was Kyle’s answer.