Chapter 21
Fancy chandelier.
Expensive liquors set on the table.
Vice President Lee Minseong was again drunk in the VIP room today.
Normally, the place would have been busy with boisterous laughter and intense skinship, but today the atmosphere was somehow different.
Crack!
“Kyaaah!”
The girl who was hosting him screamed in surprise at the bursting sound of the glass he threw.
“Oh, dear. Why is my sweetheart in such a bad mood today?~”
After a while, a lady entered the room and sat next to him with an elegant smile.
Right then, he sent all the other staff out.
They quickly get out of the room.
The room became dark in an instant.
The lady poured the wine into a new glass and glanced at Lee Minseong.
He had been staring at his phone for a while.
‘What’s going on?’
The lady glanced at the screen of his phone.
‘Comments?’
The lady’s eyes furrowed slightly.
-So, who was the hunter who destroyed the Hyena Guild?
-I’m also curious. I heard he went into Gwanaksan alone and saved everyone.
-That was amazing. Who was that?
-Report) He was wearing a mask, survivors said they couldn’t see his face.
-Just what kind of strength does he have? Why did he hide his face when he did such a good job?
-Isn’t that obvious? There are rumors that the Hyena Guild’s backer was Reaper Guild. Of course he had to hide his identity.
-Right. Whoever you are, don’t ever get caught. Reaper Guild will get their revenge right away haha
On the Internet, there was still a lot of noise about the Gwanaksan Field incident.
People were eagerly guessing the identity of the hunter who solved this case alone, but the evidence was too lacking.
-But, who was it really?
-Since he caught the boss mob by himself, he must be at least an A-Class hunter, right?
-If he has good skills, he can theoretically be class B.
-No, if he has good skills, it is possible to be in the C or D class.
-Class D? Bullshit haha
-Ah~ Write novels in your diary.
Thousands and tens of thousands of comments were all curious about the hunter’s identity.
There was a lot of nonsense and a lot of jokes among them, but the general public opinion eventually came down to one word.
-Hero.
The more the Hyena Guild’s vicious behaviors were revealed one by one, their image became increasingly demonic.
In return, the favorability towards the hunter, who destroyed them alone, was soaring nationwide.
“What? You still haven’t found his identity?”
Chills.
Lee Minseong’s expression darkened.
He gritted his teeth and glared at the lady.
“Are you mocking me?”
“Oh, I’m kidding. Of course I’m worried. If our dear vice president’s informants can’t do their job, you would surely try to get a hint from the comments.”
Clench.
“That’s going to hurt your teeth. You told your informants to go find the survivors. What did they say?”
“… He used twin swords.”
“What?”
“They said he summoned beasts.”
“Summon? Oh my goodness.”
The lady covered her mouth with a surprised look at Lee Minseong’s answer.
“It’s a big deal after all. Are there any hunters who can do that?”
“No one.”
“No one?”
“A summoner or something killing that beast Broki is absolutely impossible.”
Lee Minseong, who had seen the giant hyena Broki in person, was sure of it.
“The summoning skill must have done something to blur the reality. It could be an illusion skill, or it might not actually be a summoning skill. The summoner was hiding behind. That’s for sure.”
No matter how much he thought about it, this was something that one individual could never do.
The most significant fact was one thing.
He killed Broki with his twin swords.
“If that’s the case, you just need to have those twin swords in your hand.”
“That’s right. But, as I was saying, there is no information.”
“What~? That’s no fun.”
The disappointed lady held up the wine glass on the table and drank it down.
‘I thought it was something great because he was making a fuss, but it was something annoying. Something really childish.’
But, she understands him.
Lee Minseong has always lived a winning life.
He was born with a golden spoon.
A young Hallyu star.
When the cataclysm broke out, he immediately awakened as an A-Class hunter.
Great luck.
At this point, it was no exaggeration to say that the entire universe revolved around Lee Minseong.
‘But suddenly, his driver became an S-Class hunter.’
When Lee Minseong awakened, the whole world congratulated him.
That same evening, his old friend and driver Lim Taegyu suddenly became an S-Class hunter.
At that moment, Lee Minseong… was blinded by jealousy.
The hierarchy, which seemed to have never changed, was overturned in an instant.
‘Well, that’s why it’s good.’
There is no other person who is easy to deal with like a person with a superiority complex.
The lady smiled and poured a drink into Lee Minseong’s glass.
“Don’t be too anxious. He’ll get caught someday. Rather, shall we talk about business now?”
“Hmm.”
Lee Minseong became calm.
“Star dust.”
The lady asked with the most seductive smile.
“Were there some problems in the prototype?”
“… There were no defects in the product but the human itself.”
“Human defect? Just how bad it was that one dies after taking a mana amplifier? Are you now afraid to use it?”
Contrary to that, the lady did not look frightened at all.
And, Lee Minseong too…
“Who and how many died?”
“Hmm. 30 people from what I heard. But strangely, only low-level hunters died. Was it really a human defect?”
“Only the lower class died… After all, star dust is also affected by the mana composition. Hmm.”
Lee Minseong focused only on the effect of the prototype even though a person had died.
“So, when will the next batch come out again?”
The lady went a step further.
“Besides, people who haven’t died are still waiting for the next batch.”
“Soon.”
Lee Minseong coldly glared at the lady who smiled and teased him.
“Let’s hasten the demons.”
* * *
At that time, Suho was facing an important decision-making situation.
[You must select one of the two random boxes.]
[Blessed Random Box]
We give the desired item to the ‘player’.
[Cursed Random Box]
We provide the necessary items to the ‘player’.
[Which one would you like to choose?]
“Want vs. Need? What’s with these?”
[Even though these two options for the hidden reward seem like a game at first, there is a distinct difference.]
Beru explained.
[The ‘what you want’ may not be necessary once you receive it. Similarly, if you actually receive ‘necessary things’, something you don’t want may come out.]
“That’s why it’s called a cursed random box.”
[That’s right. For example, in a situation where you need a powerful weapon, a terrible bomb may come out instead which will blow up the whole area including yourself…!]
“Is that possible? It’s a system passed down from my father, so there’s no way they would put me in danger with a quest reward, right?”
[Kehehe. That is also true.]
Suho had nothing to worry about.
“Cursed random box.”
[Oh! that? You are brave!]
“Maybe it’s because I’m still at a low level, or I’m still not sure what I want specifically. But, there’s so much that’s needed.”
He didn’t even know what items were beyond the system, but the categories he could imagine were too vague.
Suho smiled and chose the reward.
“Besides, my father knew my needs better than I did ever since.”
[This reward is given by the system, not by His Majesty…]
“It is what it is.”
Suho shrugged and held out his hand.
A small box appeared on top of it.
It was a box tied with a ribbon in plain wrapping paper.
He carefully opened the box.
Ring!
[Obtained ‘Item: Vulcan’s Horn’.]
The box disappeared, and a sword fell on Suho’s hand.
“This?”
[Item: Horn of Volcan]
Difficulty to obtain: ??
Type: Sword
Attack +40
A sword crafted from the horns of the greedy demon Vulcan.
Vulcan’s powers are embedded, dealing more damage.
-Effect ‘Destruction Desire’: Increases physical damage by [30%].
-Effect ‘Demon Predator’: The power of Vulcan becomes stronger as it devours the demon’s soul.
[Devoured Demon Soul: 0]
As he read the item description, Suho’s eyes widened.
“It is a growth type item!”
[Wow!]
The description saying ‘increases physical damage by [30%]’ must mean that it increases as Suho hunts demons!
In addition, the basic attack power itself was 10 times higher than Rakan’s Sword!
-Hmm. I have the effects ‘Contempt for the Weak’ and ‘Mortal Wound’, so if you think about it, I’m a bit more…
Rakan’s Sword muttered something, but no one listened.
“Isn’t it great? The items you really need are here.”
Suho smiled contentedly and lifted Vulcan’s Horn with one hand.
Swooooooosh-!
When he turned around with great force, the sound of the wind cutting like a windmill was very intimidating.
However, the weight of the sword was a bit heavy.
Suho immediately allocated all the ability points he received from daily quest rewards into strength, and it became easier to handle.
“I really like it. All I need now is a demon.”
But so far, he hasn’t heard of a dungeon with demon-type monsters.
‘It seems that they were subjugated in the past.’
Should we go out and do a search on the Internet?
Suho immediately took out the key to the Shadow Dungeon.
Swoosh!
[You have exited the Shadow Dungeon.]
When he came out, there were 5 missed calls on his cell phone.
The caller was Assistant Professor Lim.
“Why was he calling?”
Suho was puzzled and called him back right away.
He received an unexpected proposal from Assistant Professor Lim.
-Suho, do you want to do a part-time job?
“Suddenly?”
-Uhh. Some of the porters who were supposed to come suddenly went off grid.
* * *
“Thank you so much for coming, Suho! I’m alive because of you!”
Professor Lim was ready to bow down to Suho as he arrived on time.
“No, this really doesn’t happen much, but today, several people went offgrid at the same time.”
“After signing a contract?”
“Yes! I know, right?”
Professor Lim clenched his fists, recalling the hunters who had lost contact without a word.
“Those people must have gone somewhere and drank alcohol in groups and fell asleep.”
Lim’s anger was justified.
Collectors and miners usually worked together in teams, so in this case the entire team was fined for breach of contract.
But, no worries now.
Because, Suho came right away!
Lim placed his hands on Suho’s shoulders and said seriously.
“Suho. Today, you really have to give your all. I only believe in you.”
What he believed in was none other than Suho’s summoning skill.
He remembered Suho’s summoning beasts during the mining operation days ago.
“Since you were hired in a hurry, I’ll take care of your daily wage.”
[You will?]
Beru, who suddenly appeared, widened his eyes and glared at Professor Lim.
Lim was surprised and hurriedly corrected his words.
“I-I’ll give it to you, Sir. No, I will be honored to give it to you, Sir.”
[Right. Since you have brought a precious person to this humble place, please continue to maintain that attitude.]
[Or I’ll chew your whole head off…]
Beru glared at Assistant Professor Lim sharply.
Suho slightly turned his head and looked at the dungeon he would enter today.
[Seoul Station Field]
※ Dangerous Area
It was the entrance to the subway station where blue mist slowly rose.
The Seoul Station Field has been neglected for a year already because the basement is too deep and the structure is complicated.
Seeing that place, Suho suddenly had this idea.
The cursed random box that was said to give necessary items.
Vulcan’s Horn came out of it.
The reason why the sword that devours the devil came into his hands was because he really needed ‘two swords’.
Or, if not… Was it because he would have to deal with a ‘demon’ sooner or later?
“Teacher, what are we catching here today?”
Suho smirked and asked Assistant Professor Lim.
Chapter 22
“Suho, don’t you have a personal protective suit yet? Wear this.”
Professor Lim handed over a thick coat to Suho.
It was an all-in-one work clothes with top and bottom connected.
“These gloves and work boots are a set, wear them.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for what? It’s only natural that you didn’t prepare anything because I suddenly called. Learn this time that a protective suit is a must for collectors.”
Following the explanation of the roles of miners last time, here comes season 2.
Assistant Professor Lim’s lecture on collectors continued.
“Being a collector is a much more dangerous job than a miner.”
A miner’s job was not dangerous unless it was a special case like the previous Korea University incident.
It was because all miners had to do was pick up a pickaxe safely at the back end of the dungeon after all the hunting was over.
“It’s different for collectors.”
The position of the collector is right in the middle of the raiders and the miners.
In order to collect the corpse of the beast that the raiders had hunted, they had to follow closely behind.
There were frequent accidents where the raiders were attacked by monsters and they couldn’t hold out.
“There are only one or two at most cases, so if you’re careful when they suddenly pop up at first, the raiders will come running to rescue.”
“So, it’s a protective suit for just that moment.”
“That’s right. But actually, it’s more useful when collecting the corpse of the monsters. If they have sharp thorns or scales, ordinary clothes will be scratched and ruined while working.”
“Teacher…”
“Ah, it’s alright. No need to feel touched about it. This is nothing compared to what you did.”
“No, this reeks of a widower.”
“… It’s because I live alone.”
* * *
After a while.
Raiders arrived at the scene.
Suho calmly observed them.
A total of 10 members.
‘4 D-Class mage hunters, 5 D-Class combat hunters, and 1 C-Class healer?’
It seemed that that C-Class male healer was the leader of the raid.
However, the raid leader strode towards Suho and glared at Assistant Lim.
“Why are there so few collectors?”
Assistant Lim lowered his head with an apologetic look on his face.
“I am sorry. For some reason, the collectors went offgrid all at the same time. Instead, today this friend…”
“What? That’s all you can say? After making a contract, what kind of irresponsible thing is that? Do you know how much it will cost if the schedule goes wrong?”
“No, no. There will be no disruption to the schedule. This friend actually has a summoning skill, so there won’t be any problems with work…”
“What? Are you kidding me now? Summoning skill?”
The longer Lim’s words continued, the more stern the expression of the raid leader became.
He glanced at Suho, then looked up and down.
Suho was standing at a distance.
Professor Lim quickly stepped in front of him.
“Oh, boss! You really don’t have to worry. This friend can summon ones who will make up for the shortfall. I specially invited someone who is good at work.”
The raid leader let out a deep sigh.
“Is that all you have to say? So you didn’t add more people because you trusted him? Just take the daily wage and leave!”
As his voice grew louder, other raiders flocked to the area.
“Captain, what is it?”
“What’s this? Where are the other collectors?”
“Is this going to work out with this number?”
Surrounded by their cold eyes, the collectors couldn’t help but feel intimidated.
The raiders’ anger was actually reasonable.
If the number of collectors is small, the work will be slowed down.
The raiders in front would have to slow down as well.
The purpose of hunting itself was to make money from the corpses of monsters, but it would be meaningless to abandon the collectors and hunt by themselves.
Even here at Seoul Station Field, there are no mana stones, so they had to earn money purely from monster corpses.
“Captain, that’s enough. This doesn’t happen every day anyway. We can’t change our schedule now, so let’s just go in as planned.”
“Yes, Chief. We have no other choice.”
At the persecution of the members, the raid leader finally let go of Assistant Professor Lim.
“Anyway, just try to fall behind today. I will file a formal complaint to the association. You’ll take responsibility and I’ll make sure you don’t collect again.”
“Yes, yes. We will do our best. Trust me.”
As the 10 members of the raiders took turns speaking one by one, Professor Lim, who was standing in the center, lowered his head with a mentally drained expression.
Since he had committed a sin, whatever he said was bound to be an excuse.
He was also unhappy.
‘I’m not even the collector leader, so why am I…’
In fact, the real collector leader was also one of the collectors that disappeared without notice.
That’s why Assistant Professor Lim, who was nominally the deputy team leader, took the blame and bowed his head instead.
It seemed that the raid leader’s anger had eased a little.
“Tsk. This is why they are low-level hunters.”
The raid leader turned around.
“Arise.”
Kehehehe-
“W-What?!”
The hunters looked around in shock at the sound of evil laughter that suddenly hovered in the air.
[Krrrk! Krrrk!]
Black monsters suddenly rose from the floor!
The evil goblins with black steam all over their bodies giggled and glared at them.
But their sizes… were much bigger than a normal goblin.
“G-Goblin Commander? No, the Main Commander!”
“Why are they out of the field…?!”
The raiders hurriedly took out their weapons.
‘God! They are slowly approaching!’
“I don’t think they are normal ones!”
“Everyone ready for battle!”
“Captain! Fall back!”
The goal of the raid is to protect the healer!
They quickly mobilized to fight off the goblins…!
[Krrrk?]
Fight…
[Kerreuk?]
“… Huh?”
However, the goblins had no will to fight.
[Keruk, Keruk?]
“… What?”
The black goblins tilted their heads, confused as to why the raiders were so angry.
When they didn’t move forward, the raiders stood hesitantly holding their weapons.
“Hmm.”
Professor Lim cleared his throat and intervened.
“What’s the problem, Chief? These are the summoned beasts I talked about earlier.”
“… Ah”
It was only then that the raiders understood the situation.
Looking around, the collectors were standing there staring blankly at them, as if this had already been discussed.
In the end, only the raiders were surprised and made a fuss.
“That is… uhh, yes. Okay.”
“The numbers… That’s a lot.”
“One, two… seven.”
“Yes. That’s twice as many as the missing collectors.”
“Kuhm-hmm.”
At Lim’s words, the raiders felt embarrassed and averted their gazes.
In response to their reaction, Assistant Professor Lim secretly raised his thumb toward Suho.
Suho smiled at him.
These seven shadow goblins were released in advance during the daily quest, so there was no need to pick up the cumbersome bodies again.
“Okay then, let’s go in.”
As Suho moved, the shadow goblins followed.
Suho murmured as he passed by the raiders, who were still standing hesitantly.
“Don’t fall behind for nothing.”
“…”
* * *
That’s how they entered the Seoul Station Field urgently.
The interior of Seoul Station, which had already been eroded, was full of darkness as the electricity was cut off, and the walls and floor were filled with unknown vines and moss.
“It’s slippery, so watch your step.”
The raid leader walking ahead commanded his comrades.
“Secure the line of sight.”
Fire.
Fireballs rose from the hands of the mage hunters all at once and circled around.
Thanks to this, the surroundings became brighter, and the blue mist lightly covering the field was slightly cleared.
At the same time, the identities of the monsters hiding in the darkness were revealed.
“Shaaak!”
Spiny lizards crawling all over the walls and ceilings!
“Everyone ready for battle!”
At the command of the raid leader, the hunters ran out and started using their skills.
And as a healer, the leader of the raid, who was protected from behind, looked back at the collectors.
The embarrassment from earlier still lingered on his face.
“Collectors… follow along carefully and start working. Collecting the corpses of spiny lizards makes some money.”
‘He’s not the demon.’
Suho licked his lips, feeling disappointed.
It seemed that the cursed random box had no other purpose than to bring a useful sword needed to have a twin sword.
Still, it was rewarding to come here with Assistant Professor Lim.
‘It’s the first time I’ve seen other hunters battle.’
Suho moved the lizard corpse to the cart and watched the battle of the raiders with his eyes.
It was definitely fun to watch the way several hunters fought by linking different abilities and skills.
‘So, this is how raids are done.’
In order to efficiently command the seven shadow soldiers, it was necessary to learn group combat when an opportunity like this arose.
Up until now, he had only released and used the same type of monsters, but later he wanted to fight strategically while wielding various monsters at the same time.
To do so, it was necessary to obtain various types of monster corpses in advance and store them in the Shadow Dungeon.
‘Being a collector would help.’
It was the reason why Suho readily accepted Assistant Professor Lim’s proposal in the first place.
Collectors were the perfect job to save the corpses of monsters.
Besides, from Suho’s point of view, there was nothing difficult about being a collector.
“Pick it up.”
[Keruk!]
“Put it on the cart.”
[Kerruk!]
The shadow goblins move in perfect order at Suho’s words and collect the dead lizards.
It was enough for Suho to leisurely walk along as if he were taking a day walk.
Meanwhile, Beru was sneaking one or two dead lizards into the Shadow Dungeon.
There were too many lizards anyway, so even if he stole a few, it wouldn’t even matter.
Well, of course, there were lizards that disappeared as Beru’s snacks.
Then a problem arose.
Suho had been doing well.
The collector’s job was basically to pick up the corpse of the monster and put it in the cart.
However, if it was a huge one, it had to be cut into pieces with a saw or knife. It was actually the most difficult and it took a long time.
It was never easy to cut through the tough skin and bones of monsters with the power of an E-Class hunter.
That was nothing to the shadow soldiers that were goblin commanders and main commanders.
[Krrrk, Krrrk!]
Thanks to them, the collectors’ work speed eventually overtook the raiders’ hunting speed.
The collectors eventually had nothing to do, so they only waited and watched for the hunting to end.
“Haaaa.”
“Ughhh.”
The sight of Professor Lim’s yawning from behind made the raiders’ faces reddened.
If they hadn’t told him not to fall behind at the beginning, they wouldn’t have been in such an embarrassing situation.
It was then.
“For a moment. Stop what you’re doing.”
Suddenly, the raid leader stopped the hunting and strode toward the collectors with a determined expression.
Suho stood exactly at the end.
‘What now?’
‘What kind of fight is he going to make again?’
The expression of the collectors became serious at the situation.
Thud.
The raid leader then arrived in front of Suho.
“Hey.”
He stared at Suho’s face intently and opened his tightly closed mouth.
“Do you have plans on signing a contract with our team?”
[Whoops.]
Beru nodded with a very proud expression behind.
[As expected, Young Master’s extraordinary talent shines anytime, anywhere. This guy has an eye for great…]
“Be our exclusive collector!”
[Wait, what?]
“You have the gift of a natural collector… Your salary would be the highest in the collector industry…”
Assistant Professor Lim barely stopped Beru from saying that he would kill those bugs with a fiery gaze in his eyes.
Chapter 23
“Captain!”
There was an urgent call for the raid leader in front.
“I found a human body!”
“A corpse?”
The raid leader, who was talking to Suho, hurriedly returned to the hunters.
His eyes widened when he saw the body.
“Is it a real corpse?”
“But this… doesn’t look like an ordinary corpse.”
Their expressions became serious.
The condition of the body was certainly strange.
A corpse that was burned like black charcoal.
It was an unnatural corpse to be found at Seoul Station.
“I’ve never heard of a monster who used fire here.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Just in time, Suho came to see the condition of the body with the collectors.
‘Huh?’
Suho’s eyes widened.
The state of the body was very familiar.
He turned his head to the side and looked at Assistant Lim.
“Suho, this corpse…”
“Yes. It looks like a Mist Burn.”
Suho nodded to confirm.
The raiders turned their attention to Suho all at the same time.
“Mist Burn?”
“That blue fiery demon?”
“Are you sure?”
Unless it was a large guild, hunters didn’t know all the types of monsters.
“I am sure.”
After Suho digged through the Korea University incident, he had been looking for information about Mist Burn on the Internet.
And he found out one surprising fact.
Mist Burns… weren’t naturally monsters.
Suho calmly muttered the information he had read then.
“Mist Burn self-ignites when a non-awakened person inhales a certain amount of blue mist.”
“W-What?!”
“Mist Burns were originally humans?”
Among the hunters with a short career, there were people who didn’t even know about it.
That’s also because it wasn’t long before the Hunter Association revealed the truth about Mist Burn.
It was a well-known fact that Mist Burns attacked humans and increased their clones.
However, there was hardly any way to assert how the first Mist Burns were formed.
One of the hunters realized something and murmured.
“Wait. If that’s how Mist Burn first appeared, what about the rumor that you can awaken by drinking blue mist?”
“Obviously, it is nonsense. Or, the information about Mist Burn has been misrepresented.”
-You can awaken by drinking blue mist?
It’s already been over a year since this rumor started circulating on the Internet like an urban legend.
However, no one has yet been able to uncover the truth of the rumor.
‘… Everyone who drank it as an experiment would have burned to death.’
But, that didn’t matter now.
“Then this corpse… How the hell did it get down here?”
This was exactly what the hunters were curious about.
This place was on the 4th basement floor of Seoul Station.
It didn’t make sense for a non-awakened person to have gone through the lizards all this way by himself.
Also, it was even more strange that he walked down here on his own after becoming a Mist Burn.
If he had gone out of the station to burn other people, it would have made sense. But, he would not have come down to this place where there were only monsters.
“Captain! Here too!”
At that time, a new body was found some distance away.
The condition of the body was the same as before. It was the charred remains of Mist Burn.
“Over here too!”
Even after that, the hunters were able to find several more bodies.
The more this happened, the more serious the raid leader’s expression became.
‘… Something’s wrong.’
As a person responsible for the safety of the hunters, it was difficult to just ignore this strange situation.
However, the matter was too personal to stop hunting just because of it. Besides, they only found a few corpses.
Also, with this amount of people gathered, even if dozens of Mist Burns appeared, it would be manageable.
“Let’s keep hunting first.”
The raid resumed.
“Suho.”
Professor Lim approached Suho with an uneasy expression.
“I’ll tell you in advance this time.”
“What?”
“If there is danger, can I run away first?”
“…?”
[Huh, what’s with this coward?]
Suho and Beru looked at Assistant Lim with ridiculous expressions.
But, Professor Lim was really sincere.
“You know I have escaping skills, right? If something happens, you can use your summoning skill to run away. I will run away on my own, too.”
Assistant Professor Lim kept looking around like something was unsettling while he was talking.
Suho looked at his face and asked.
“Teacher… You seem sure that something will happen.”
“No, it’s not that. Of course, it’s a lot better if nothing happens. But, just in case…”
In response to Suho’s words, Assistant Professor Lim finally let out a deep sigh and confessed his thoughts.
“In fact… My mother was killed by Mist Burn.”
“…”
“She herself became Mist Burn and tried to kill me.”
“…”
“That’s why I’m so scared of Mist Burn. It feels like my mother is trying to kill me again.”
Suho couldn’t say anything against that.
* * *
Right then.
“Aaaaaaccckkk!”
From the depths of Seoul Station, a loud scream erupted.
“Hot, hot…!”
“Aagh! Aaaagh! Aaaaagh!”
Screams!
A group of people chained together were struggling in agony.
Their bodies were wrapped in blue mist.
“Help! Please spare me! I’ll say I didn’t see anything! Really nothing…!”
Behind them, people who weren’t burned yet were begging for their lives, sobbing in despair.
Pure fear.
Madness.
It didn’t make sense.
Why did they have to suffer in a place like that?
No one could answer the question.
It was obvious.
Because there was no reason for it in the first place.
They were just terribly unlucky.
For just that reason alone, they were being burned alive.
“Is it that hot?”
There were people in front who were calmly watching their screams.
“Hmm. It should have been hotter. The firepower is not good.”
They were a group of people wearing masks and black robes.
Their faces were covered with crow masks, like something out of a medieval movie.
“Hey, can we not increase the firepower?”
“We are running out of fuel.”
“Tsk. The fuel is always the problem. Can’t we get more?”
“Since all the Hyena Guild members were caught this time…”
“Argh. How can something like this happen?”
The crow-masked babbled.
Meanwhile, the screams that seemed to go on forever were suddenly cut off.
While they were tied in that place…
[Roooaaar!]
Mist Burn.
The blue mist monster, burning with the black corpse as its wick, was roaring ferociously.
[Grrrrr!]
“Oh, hey. Nice to meet you, too.”
A crow-masked waved his hands nonchalantly while wearing thick gloves.
“Okay then, let’s start working before the firewood goes out.”
“What should I do when I’m done?”
One crow-masked in the corner raised a hand and asked.
Next to him lay the remains of a Mist Burn that had cooled off.
“Oh, that one. We will be doing the work ourselves, so throw it away and come.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You know you can’t throw it away nearby, right?”
“Of course.”
The crow-masked loaded the remains of Mist Burn onto the cart one by one.
He grumbled as he dragged the cart outside.
“Ugh. So bothersome. Where should I throw it away this time? If I could, I’d just like to pile them all up near the factory.”
“Hey, haven’t you heard about this location? Throw it away as far as possible!”
“I know.”
The crow-masked shrugged and disappeared into the darkness, pulling the wagon as it creaked.
The other crow-masked who were watching from behind clicked their tongues as if they didn’t like it.
“He keeps on being lazy.”
“Even though he says that, he is a good guy. Now, let’s start slowly.”
“Yep. The 13th star dust work will begin.”
The eyes of the crow-masked became extremely cautious.
Meanwhile, the eyes of those chained behind them were full of desperation.
‘Please save us.’
‘Anyone please…’
They begged and begged.
But their voices did not reach anywhere.
* * *
[Ehhh?]
Beru’s antennae pricked up.
He turned his head and stared into the darkness of the subway tunnel.
[Young Master.]
“I felt it, too.”
Suho was also looking in that direction.
‘Is it because my senses stat have increased?’
[Information]
Sense: A stat that raises the five senses. Crisis detection ability increases.
In the darkness of long subway tracks, somewhere in that deep tunnel, he felt a gloomy aura.
‘It’s creepy.’
He could tell without looking.
There must have been something powerful lurking at the other end.
The first thing that came to his mind was the existence of the boss.
However, Seoul Station Field was an old dungeon that had already been there for a year.
That means other hunters have already been wiping out monsters that make money like boss mobs.
As a result, the only monsters left were lizards with high numbers and excellent fertility.
‘If it’s not a boss, what is this energy?’
Suho looked at the raiders who were hunting the lizards.
‘Has no one else noticed but me?’
Something was glaring their way from the dark.
Like… Like an eagle watching its prey from afar in the sky.
Its target was the raiders who were making noise in the area.
Also…
“The fuel came to me.”
Suddenly, a voice muttered in the dark.
“…!”
Suho and Beru’s eyes widened and shouted at the same time.
“Avoid that!”
[An enemy!]
Bang-!
“…!”
An explosion occurred.
Then, there appeared something wearing a black robe.
An unidentified man wearing a crow mask.
But no one thought of him as human.
The monster’s forearm, abnormally swollen, was sticking out of the black robe.
“It’s a humanoid monster!”
The hunters quickly regrouped.
“Oh. Avoid?”
The monster slowly stood up and pulled out his fist stuck in the tunnel floor.
“Great.”
Crack.
A piece of cement crumbled in his truly bizarre-looking hand.
Then…
Swoosh.
In an instant, his figure disappeared from everyone’s sight.
“…!”
The eyes of the surprised hunters became busy looking for him.
But it was already too late.
‘The troublesome healer first.’
Wedge-!
Suddenly, his bloated fist appeared from behind, aiming for the defenseless back of the raid leader.
The raid leader’s eyes widened when he realized he was a step later.
Then.
Swish-!
“…!”
The eyes of the monster widened.
Someone jumped in front of him and blocked the attack.
Slash!
Black blood gushed out like a fountain.
“Argh.”
Suho blocked the fist with the ‘Vulcan’s Horn’ and glared at the monster.
“Look who’s this?”
The corner of the mouth of the monster rose wickedly.
Chapter 24
Suho pulled out two swords from his inventory immediately and blocked the attack.
The monster and Suho’s eyes crossed each other in the air.
‘It’s a tremendous power.’
‘Is this the right way?’
Suho’s current muscle strength is at 39.
Because ability points were distributed based on strength stats, Suho was most confident in strength among other stats.
However, the power of this one-armed monster was no less than that.
Thud!
The two fell back at the same time.
They then gushed towards each other with even greater speed.
Slash!
Swish! Swish!
Suho’s twin swords swung hard.
The monster’s bloated arms blocked the attacks, crushing the walls and floors.
“Ack!”
2 seconds away from death.
Thanks to Suho, the raid leader managed to get out of the crisis and immediately fell back.
‘What happened? How did he…’
Suho’s fighting power was momentarily stopped, but he did not forget his duty.
The most important skill as a raider was having a keen eye to grasp the level of the demonic beast.
In other words, it was the ability to sense a crisis.
“It’s a D-Class monster! Everyone, attack!”
The raid leader quickly assessed the mana level of the monster and shouted to everyone.
“D-Class?”
The hunters came to their senses and prepared to attack all at once.
“There would be no problems!”
“Die!”
Slash!
They focused on the monster that was fighting Suho.
However, the enemy easily dodged all those attacks and jumped backwards.
“D-Class?”
He smirked, clinging to the tunnel wall like a spider.
“What happened to the quality of evaluation you do to someone in front of you?”
His other hand was tucked into the robe.
Swoop.
A small potion came out of his chest.
“That’s…?!”
Assistant Lim was the first person to find out what the potion was.
A blue liquid that sparkles with brilliant starlight.
“Stardust! It’s stardust! Don’t let him eat that!”
The eyes of the hunters widened at Assistant Professor Lim’s words.
“Stardust?”
“Could it be the infamous mana power booster?”
There was a rumor that had been spreading secretly among hunters since some time ago.
-I heard that there is a mana enhancer called stardust.
According to the rumors, it was a medicine that would keep your mana power up for about a week if you consume it.
They even said that there were no side effects.
The price was too expensive, but that didn’t matter.
It was because they could earn more money by entering a higher dungeon and hunting by using the mana power amplified by stardust.
As a result, it was always unavailable. Even if they wanted one, they could not find it.
“Correct.”
The monster grinned and bit the potion bottle with his mouth exposed under the mask.
“Stop!”
Gulp.
By the time the hunters rushed at him, it was already too late.
Damn it!
After swallowing the stardust, his body began to swell rapidly. As if balancing that one arm that was already bloated.
“Roar!”
He roared ferociously and bounced off the wall.
Following that, two huge arms swept the bodies of the hunters.
“Aaaah!”
Hunters bounced in all directions like bowling pins.
“No way.”
The raid leader couldn’t believe his eyes.
It was a mistake to judge that the monster was D-Class.
“C-Class… monster?!”
It was completely unexpected.
He could never have imagined that stardust could amplify mana to such an extent!
“Everyone, run away! He’s something we can’t handle by ourselves!”
[No. You have to do that.]
“…!”
Beru went to the raid leader’s side smiling.
[Young Master is now activated.]
“…!”
There was no need to ask who Beru was referring to.
Suho was already attacking with the shadow soldiers.
“Use the Shadow Goblin skill!”
[Krrrk, Krrrk!]
Currently, the seven shadow soldiers led by Suho consisted of five goblin commanders and two shadow main commanders.
And as they were the captains who led the normal goblins, they each had their own skills.
[Krrrrk!]
[Shadow Goblin uses ‘Skill: Ice Arrow’.]
Swoosh!
A cold ice spear flew and froze the legs of the monster.
Great!
The same guy who was pressuring Suho with his tremendous strength and size temporarily stopped moving.
[Krrrk!]
Swoosh!
The evil redness fell on him.
[Shadow Goblin uses ‘Skill: Curse of Blood’.]
[The physical damage is increased by 15% for 1 minute.]
“…!”
The monster, who had been cursed with decreased mobility and increased damage received, was taken aback.
[Krrrk!]
The shadow goblins rushed at him trying to butcher him to pieces with daggers and saws.
“Haha! This kind of trick…!”
Slash!
He shook off his frozen legs and tore the shadow goblins to shreds.
But…
[Krrrk!]
The shadow goblins giggled even more ridiculously, their body that had been cut in half stuck back on the spot.
They clung to the body of the giant monster and began stabbing their daggers mercilessly.
“Ouch! W-What is this…?!”
His face was filled with embarrassment for the first time.
The weapons the seven goblins were holding were at most knives and saws trying to cut him to pieces.
Even if a curse that amplifies damage by 15% was added, it did not cause significant damage to him.
However, when the madness of the infinitely regenerating goblins was added, the synergy was not negligible.
[Kehehe! Kehehe!]
[Krrrk! Krrrk!]
Slash! Slash!
[Kehehehe!]
“These leeches!”
The monster, covered in instant black blood, continued to tear and beat those who clung to him angrily.
The more the goblins did, the more tenaciously they regenerate their bodies and bit him.
“W-What the hell is that…”
The hunters who watched the horrendous and brutal battle were stunned.
“How could he summon…”
The skill of a summon hunter they were familiar with was not like that.
They thought it was only like hitting an insect the size of a fingernail to kill it.
Or, summoning sleeping butterflies to put one or two monsters to sleep.
Of course, there were hunters who made useful summons from time to time. But, there were never ones dealing with demon-like monsters playing infinitely and fooling opponents.
Suho’s mana was not infinite as well.
‘Mana is consumed when you regenerate a shadow soldier. The more time it takes, the more I have to lose.’
Slash!
Suho’s Rakan’s Sword and Vulcan’s Horn cut through the giant body again and again.
Slash!
It went on faster.
[Effect ‘Mortal Wound’: Inflicts more than twice as much fatal damage with a 15% chance.]
The skill of Rakan’s Sword shone.
“Ah! Bastard-!”
The monster was furious and glared at Suho, the culprit behind all this.
And then!
“…!”
Ignoring the small attacks of the goblins, he grabbed the weapon from Suho with his big hands.
“Ha. I finally got it. You little rat.”
Blood burst from his grasp by squeezing the blade of the sword, but it was okay.
He struck Suho in the side with his other fist and with an evil smile on his lips.
Boom-!
There was a sound of drums exploding.
[‘Skill: Endurance’ reduces damage.]
Suho just glared at him with provocative eyes.
“Try more.”
[Skill: Endurance Lv.2]
Passive skill.
No mana required.
You have indomitable tenacity.
Increases physical defense by 40%.
“This bastard!”
Slam!
He lifted Suho’s body with his sword and smashed it to the floor.
“Ack!”
The shock caused Suho to vomit blood from his mouth and let go of the sword.
“Oh, no!”
“Suho!”
His ears buzzed.
It was as if the voice he heard was clouded.
“Tsk. Dare to speak to a weak summon hunter.”
Suho somehow heard the mocking voice of the monster.
“Now, I will use this sword.”
He seemed to be quite pleased with Suho’s sword that drove him to a bloody mess.
Suho was pleased just the same.
-What the hell?
“Huh?”
That moment.
Suho, who was lying on the floor, smirked.
-Who dares covet the sword of the Monarch!
“…!”
Swoosh!
Red veins swelled up on the arm of the monster that was holding the Rakan’s Sword.
“W-What is this…!”
He was frightened and tried to shake off Rakan’s Sword, but it was of no use.
The sword clung to his hands as if they were glued, and began to eat away his body.
-You dare to intoxicate me? Give me your soul and body, then die!
“This crazy sword!”
The monster tried to counter it.
Then the cold energy suppressed deep in him pushed out the energy of Rakan’s Sword.
-What are you doing? You were already consumed.
Rakan’s Sword burst into laughter.
-You bastard, you must have already lost your body to the devil.
“Arrrggh!”
The monster roared and managed to shake off Rakan’s Sword from his hands.
But then.
Ack-
Suho approached and pierced the monster’s heart with the Vulcan’s Horn.
He let out a heavy breath with his eyes wide open.
“Checkmate.”
Suho cut him using the Vulcan’s horn and tore his body in two.
Slash!
Black blood sprinkled like rain.
Thud.
The mask fell off his face as he tumbled across the floor.
A face so distorted that it could not be called a human was revealed.
“Khhhh…!”
He let out his last breath.
“You only managed to kill me… Don’t be too happy.”
“What?”
“Sooner or later, you guys will all be dead anyway.”
He left such a curse-like will.
“… Just as how the Radiru Clan perished.”
He lost the light in his eyes.
That moment.
Swoosh!
[Vulcan’s Horn devours the demon’s soul.]
Vulcan’s Horn sucked evil energy from his body.
[Devoured Demon Soul: 1]
[Effect ‘Destruction Desire’: Increases physical damage by [31%].
“Demon?”
Confusion appeared in Suho’s eyes.
So this is the reason why the cursed random box gave a Vulcan’s Horn.
[Your level increased!]
Swoosh!
Suho’s whole body was enveloped in a soft blue light, and all the wounds he had suffered were completely healed.
Suho recalled the last words the monster said.
“… Radiru Clan? What did he mean?”
[About the Radiru Clan perished?]
Beru came to Suho’s side and tilted his head.
“You know that?”
[I know. Radiru Clan was a demonic aristocrat. Even if they were noble families, they were one of the weakest in the 20th place in the demon hierarchy. But…]
Beru glared at the corpse of the demon.
[It is also a family that suddenly became the number one in the hierarchy because the 1st to 19th ranks were all destroyed by the Monarch a long time ago.]
Chapter 25
Beru recalled an old memory.
Twice in total.
The demon world has been destroyed twice by the Shadow Monarch Sung Jinwoo.
First, in the Demon Castle Dungeon.
Then one more time after everything has been reset.
In the war between Sung Jinwoo and the Monarchs, the existence of the demon was just an experience point that Sung Jinwoo took on.
That was how demons die and die again…
In the end, only one family could survive in the demon realm.
That was the ‘Radiru’ Clan, the 20th in the rankings. They were the only one among the countless demons who sided with Sung Jinwoo.
But, that family was destroyed?
[… It seems like something has happened to the demon world.]
Beru’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the corpse.
In order to know the inside story, ‘predation’ was the best.
He can read the memories of the ones he eats.
[Young Master, can I eat that demon?]
Suho’s gaze turned to the demon’s corpse.
[Shadow release for contaminated shadows is not possible.]
Suho tilted his head at the message floating in front of him.
“Can’t demons be released as shadow soldiers?”
[It seems so.]
Apparently, since the shadow fragment releases the opponent’s soul, it seemed that it was impossible to release the demon’s soul that had already been corrupted.
Suho nodded.
“Then, eat.”
[Okay!]
When permission was granted, Beru’s mouth parted long and bit the corpse.
He wanted to swallow it in one bite.
Chomp chomp chomp!
… He has a small mouth, so it took a little longer.
[Kehehehe!]
Beru left behind quite a horrible scene that seemed needed to be mosaiced.
Suho looked back at the eyes focused on him.
Since earlier, all hunters, regardless if they were collectors or raiders, were looking at him with a shocked expression.
“Uhh…”
“H-How…”
They were so lost they didn’t know what to say.
Assistant Professor Lim stepped forward as he was the only one among them who had not seen Suho like this for the first time.
“Suho, are your wounds okay?”
All wounds were healed as he leveled up, but the blood on his body did not disappear.
Right now, he was covered in blood and looked like he was on the verge of collapsing.
“Ah, yes.”
Suho casually wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand.
“Uhh, hey…”
The raid leader approached him hesitantly.
“Go to the association and take a re-assessment…”
Regardless of his skills, Suho, who defeated C-Class monsters alone, could never be an E-Class hunter.
There must have been some big mistake.
“It doesn’t matter now.”
Assistant Professor Lim picked up the empty potion bottle that the demon had consumed and looked at it carefully.
“Normally, the effect of stardust isn’t that great… What the hell is this?”
“Are you familiar with stardust?”
The captain’s expression became serious. He had been feeling strange about it since earlier.
Assistant Lim nodded.
“That’s because there are so many people who use it among low-level hunters. Just a few days ago, the collectors who disappeared today said that they had obtained star dust with difficulty…”
Stardust was mostly used by low-level hunters rather than high-level hunters.
Why?
It was because the amplifying power of stardust was limited.
Stardust is an amazing medicine that can make an E-Class hunter instantly become a D-Class, but not to the extent of turning a D-Class into a C-Class.
It was possible for D-Class hunters because their mana power was only slightly less than that of C-Class.
That’s why D-Class hunters were the main customers of stardust.
After consuming it, they visit the association instead of the dungeon. They would have their mana power re-measured and their class would be revised to C-Class.
“… Among stardust users, there were those who became more greedy and tried several bottles at the same time. However, everything failed and they only wasted money.”
There were rumors that the development team was continuing research to increase the amplification power of stardust.
But, no one knew who was developing it.
“Actually…”
[Oops-]
Beru, who was beside him, burped loudly and stood up.
Then he murmured as he went through the puzzles of memories that came into his head.
[That’s natural. After all, stardust is a drug created by demons, so it must be more effective for them.]
“W-What?!”
“Demons made stardust?”
The hunters were shocked by the revelation.
“Is that true?”
[Yes, it is.]
Beru nodded with a serious expression at Suho’s question.
[But, that’s not the problem.]
Although it was difficult to read off the memories of his prey, Beru found that piece of information quite shocking.
[Apparently, the ingredients for the star dust…]
Beru’s next piece of information was even more interesting.
The manufacturing process of stardust was as follows.
1) Making Firewood: Catch non-awakened people and forcibly inject blue mist to make ‘Mist Burn’.
2) Increase firepower: Throw ‘humans as firewood’ to Mist Burn to maximize its firepower.
3) Roasting: Roast the ‘mana stone soaked in demon’s blood’ over the blazing wood fire that was made.
… Star dust was made by crushing the resulting charcoal lumps into powder.
“And the solution made by diluting the dissolved powder in water is distributed in this potion bottle?”
[Yes.]
After hearing Beru’s explanation, the hunters shivered.
“This is nonsense.”
“Did you say stardust was made by burning humans alive?”
“Then why is this demon here…?”
It seemed like he already knew without even asking.
Beru turned his gaze and stared into the tunnel where the demon had first appeared.
[If you follow that path, it seems that there is a ‘factory’ of demons. Even the civilians who were captured to be used as firewood.]
Right then.
Ring!
[Quest: Rescue the Victims.]
There are people nearby waiting for your help.
Rescue as many of them as possible.
Rewards vary depending on the number of people rescued.
-Current number of victims: 7
-Current number of rescued victims: 0
‘There are still 7 people alive.’
There was no reason to delay the quest any longer.
Suho’s eyes flashed.
“I’m going to go get them.”
Thud.
The moment Suho steps towards the tunnel.
“Wait a minute! Suho!”
Assistant Lim urgently grabs Suho’s shoulder from behind.
Suho turned and looked at him.
“Teacher, run away first.”
“… No, I want to go too this time.”
‘Hmm?’
Suho was quite taken aback.
Lim’s mouth trembled in fear, but he spoke firmly.
“With my skill, I can carry at least one person on my back and run.”
To where Suho was going now, there would be much more demons like there were just before.
It was clear that Suho would lack hands alone to save the people caught there.
Smirk.
‘Pick up and run… That’s a good idea.’
Suho picked up the crow mask from the floor and looked at the hunters staring at him.
“Let’s make a plan.”
* * *
A long stretch of railway at Seoul Station.
Walking along the long tunnel, there was a huge air defense shelter prepared for war or disaster.
Usually it was used as a work space for construction purposes.
The demons’ factory was located there.
“Why is the youngest so late?”
The demons at the factory started to get concerned when the youngest, who went to take out the trash, didn’t come back.
“He must have encountered a demon on the way.”
“Lizard…”
Right then.
The iron door opened and the youngest wearing a crow mask walked into the factory.
However, a group of humans were randomly loaded into the wagon that the youngest had dragged in.
Confusion flashed from the eyes of the demons.
“What’s that?”
“Where did you get those firewoods?”
“I came across them.”
The youngest stopped the cart in the corner of the factory.
Rattle.
Even when the wagon was shaking, the hunters whose bodies were covered in blood did not move, let alone groan.
The demons asked.
“You didn’t kill them, did you? If you did, the effect goes down.”
“They’re still breathing.”
“Oh, they are. Our youngest is also good at this.”
The firewood just ran out, and the conversation that everything’s going well went back and forth between the demons for a while.
The identity of the ‘youngest’ standing in front of the cart and watching their conversation was Suho.
He covered his face with the mask of the demon he had just killed and entered that place on his own will.
Those who pretended to be human firewoods and piled up in layers were the hunters.
The reason why they were able to attempt such a bold infiltration was thanks to Beru’s memories roughly figuring out the situation at the factory.
‘Demons identify each other through crow masks. They don’t pay much attention to details like appearance or voice.’
The reason this was possible was because the demons in the factory were not the main body right now.
‘The demonic souls that wandered through the dimensional rift possessed humans and stole their bodies.’
Beru said that even monarchs once hid themselves on Earth by possessing human bodies.
To get directly into a body with such a strong force, one had to drill a huge hole to the Earth, because it was a much more cumbersome way.
However, it seems that the demons really did not want to see the weak human body they took away.
They were ashamed to even show their faces to each other, so they usually hid themselves tightly with black robes and masks.
Besides, the demons identified each other’s identities not through visual or auditory information, but with the demonic energy they felt from each other.
“Hmm? Youngest…”
One of the demons tilted his head, feeling the energy from Suho.
Suho swallowed hard.
“Yes?”
“What is that sword? Looks good.”
The Vulcan’s Horn that devoured the ‘youngest soul’ was tied to Suho’s back.
The demons instinctively noticed that the material of the sword was unusual and approached Suho.
“That sword…”
But then.
“Stop chatting.”
A crow-masked having the most powerful energy among demons, clapped once and drew everyone’s attention.
“Everyone get ready. The gate is slowly opening.”
‘What?’
Suho opened his eyes and looked at them.
Even the hunters who were pretending to be dead on the cart had no choice but to open their eyes and stare.
Crackle!
The space where red aura shimmered on the empty wall was forcibly torn apart.
‘This is crazy.’
This information was not even in the memory of the youngest.
They don’t know if it’s because his memory was lost, or because he was the youngest, so he didn’t know what was happening until now.
‘Damn it.’
They realized everything in that moment, what the demons had been up to in the factory.
‘The last ingredient for stardust.’
A mana stone soaked in demon blood!
However, since the demons here were now taking human bodies, they were directly summoning the demons to draw blood from within.
Crackle!
The Red Gate was surrounded by an ominous aura!
A dimensional hole connecting the demon world and the earth was created.
‘These crazy people are real!’
“All right, prepare for battle. We don’t know what will come out, but we have to kill whatever it is at once!”
Seeing the red light swirling at the Red Gate, the demons prepared for battle.
Finally…
An unidentified demon that wandered in the demon realm was summoned in front of them.
“…”
Thud.
Fluttering purple hair.
Slender arms and legs.
‘Female?’
The red gate closed again, and the condition of the female demon who descended in front of it was miserable.
She was covered in blood, as if she would collapse at any moment.
However, even with the flowing blood, her eyes were shining brightly.
“Who summoned me?”
The purple-haired looked at those demons surrounding her with haughty eyes.
The corner of her mouth rolled up at the obvious hostility she felt from them.
“Ha. Are you aiming for my life, too?”
Swoosh!
She pointed the spear she was holding at them.
“Alright. Attack all you want! I am Esil, the eldest daughter of the Radiru Clan! Until the moment my life runs out, let’s fight to the end.”
Chapter 26
Those words filled the eyes of the demons with greed.
“Radiru?”
“The Radiru Clan?”
The corners of their mouths were torn long and the laughter burst out.
“Was there still a demon who survived from the Radiru Clan?”
“Ha ha! It’s a big fish this time!”
The blood of demon nobles is precious.
Especially in the demon world where all noble families are destroyed and only hybrids are left like these days!
“Don’t give her a break!”
The demons attacked Esil, the demon of the Radiru Clan
Their size grew exponentially, and evil demons emerged from their long nails, aiming for Esil’s life.
“You dare say that, low-level demons!”
Esil lightly jumped up to dodge all of those attacks and swung the spear without hesitation.
But the low-level demons snorted and continued to push Eshil.
“Haha! The world has changed a lot to even have divided levels!”
“I never thought the day would come when we would hunt down a demon noble!”
Esil, on the defensive side, gritted her teeth with a look of resentment.
It’s been a long time since she has been chased by many demons in the demon realm.
To make matters worse, she was forcibly summoned to Earth in that state of her body, so her power was restricted.
The way to get rid of that restriction is ‘possession’.
Those low-level demons had possessed humans stealing their bodies, and they also developed stardust to amplify their power.
A battle between a demon noble with weakened power and a low-level demon with amplified power.
It was obvious who would prevail.
“Ha ha ha! She is pure blood noble! Pureblood!”
“We can make stardust with pure blood!”
[Young Master.]
Beru quietly whispered to Suho’s ears.
Suho slipped behind in the midst of a sudden battle.
“Yes. It’s time.”
Suho nodded and exchanged glances with the hunters on the cart.
The hunters also nodded and secretly moved their bodies.
‘Something unexpected happened, but it worked out rather well.’
Their initial plan was this.
1) Infiltration: Wearing a crow mask and black robe, Suho will infiltrate the factory pretending to be the youngest low-level demon.
2) Distraction: After that, Suho will create ‘something’ inside and attract the demons’ attention to himself.
3) Escape: The hunters covered with blood will then rescue the people captured in the factory and escape.
However, the situation right now happened even before Suho made a fuss.
‘We will move according to plan.’
All of the hunters on the wagon, including Assistant Lim, possessed ‘speed’-related skills.
Swoosh.
Suho, including them, disappeared from the spot at the same time.
They immediately arrived next to the people who were tied up in a corner and shut their mouths.
“Shh.”
“…!”
After quickly exchanging glances with them, those who understood the meaning nodded in fear.
Suho tore off the chains that bound them with force.
‘Done!’
Lim’s heart raced, wanting to run away right away.
‘Now all we have to do is put them on our backs and run!’
Right when he carried a civilian on his back.
“Huh?”
One of the low-level demons who was fighting Esil saw the scene.
“Youngest, what are you doing there without fighting?”
A light of doubt flashed in the demon’s eyes through the crow’s mask.
Instead of answering, Suho shouted.
“Run!”
Dash!
Just in time, the hunters with civilians on their backs rushed out at full speed.
The goal is to reach the exit!
“How dare you!”
At that moment, several demons fighting Esil quickly stopped.
Swish!
The demons rushed towards the hunters.
Suho shouted from behind.
“Don’t stop and keep running!”
The hunters spurred on their speed with determined eyes.
The faster the demons moved, the lesser chance the hunters would reach the exit.
‘Trust!’
They believed in Suho and kept running.
Suho did not betray them.
“Arise!”
Then.
[Krrrk!]
“…!”
Bite! Bite! Bite!
Bite! Bite! Bite!
The shadow goblins that Suho had planted near the exit rose up from the floor, biting the legs of the demons.
“What…?!”
The demons were startled.
But it was too early to be surprised.
[Kehehehe!]
Shadow Goblins have bad tempers.
They mercilessly cut the demons’ ankles with the butchering knives they were holding.
“Slash!”
The bodies of the humans now possessed by demons are indeed weak. Even if their Achilles tendons were just slightly injured, they won’t be able to use their strength.
The demons screamed and collapsed on the spot.
‘In here!’
The hunters quickly passed by them and eventually succeeded in escaping out of the factory.
Assistant Professor Lim, who was leaving the iron gate for the last time, turned his head and looked at Suho who was left behind.
‘Is he really going to be okay?’
Suho understood what he was trying to say just by looking into his eyes, and nodded with a smirk.
Then.
Clang!
The iron door was closed.
3 seconds to escape.
2 seconds for the demons to tear apart the Shadow Goblins and rise again.
5 seconds total.
All plans are going well.
‘All that’s left is…’
‘It is my turn.’
Suho quickly counted the number of demons.
Except for the purple haired demon that was summoned a moment ago.
‘A total of 9.’
The problem is that each one of those guys is on a similar level to the ‘youngest’ he managed to defeat earlier.
But…
‘It would be worth it.’
Suho’s gaze went down to his own shadow.
Right then.
“Arise.”
He called the shadow soldier.
“Broki.”
…!
At that moment, a huge shadow rose in front of Suho.
Swoosh!
[Broki Lv.1]
Knight Class
A gigantic hyena beast with its whole body turns into black steam.
This was Suho’s initial plan for ‘Distraction’.
Although the order was reversed now, it was a better situation for hunting demons.
[Grrrrrr!]
Broki’s murderous roar shook the factory.
“W-What?!”
The demons who were onslaught to hunt Esil were greatly taken aback.
“Why is Broki here?!”
“No, something is different…”
The demons already knew Broki, who led the Hyena Guild.
Just up to recently, the Hyena Guild were the ones who had been kidnapping and handing over people as ingredients for stardust to the demons.
This made the situation much better.
Although, problems still remained.
Based on Suho’s experience of fighting both Broki and a low-level demon, it was clear that one on one, Broki was stronger than the latter.
However, there are 9 of those demons in front of him.
There was no chance of winning.
How about this?
“Beru!”
[Kieek!]
Evil energy spreads from Beru’s small body in all directions.
[Beru uses ‘Skill: Harsh Command’.]
[‘Skill: Harsh Command’ increases Broki’s stats by 50%.]
[As a side effect of ‘Skill: Harsh Command’, Broki is cursed with madness.]
[Grrrrr!]
Broki attacked the demons without hesitation.
Blag!
“Ack!”
The demons bounced helplessly from Broki’s huge forepaw, which swung like a baseball bat.
Then, Suho’s twin swords whirled at those who were dashingly driven into the concrete wall.
‘Blade Storm!’
[Use ‘Skill: Blade Storm’.]
Swish-!
Suho’s body whirled around like a typhoon and drove them away.
[You have killed a low-level demon.]
[Defeat the low-level demons…]
“Haa…Ha…”
Thanks to that, Esil, who was fighting a grueling battle alone, managed to breathe a sigh.
Rather than being relieved, her eyes widened at the sight of Broki raging.
“Is this real ?”
[Grrrrr!]
A black beast that drives demons with its massive body like an anti-tank.
As far as Esil knew, there was only one person in the world who could command a beast that looked like that.
The one who destroyed the demon realm alone long ago.
He who blocked the front and destroyed all demons, eventually overthrowing the King of Demons, Baran.
That frightening and great name.
“… Sung Jinwoo is here?!”
Esil’s face, which had been exuding frost-like aura all along, suddenly brightened.
She hurriedly looked around to find Sung Jinwoo.
“Where?! Where are you? Jin…”
She finally found…
“…woo?”
Although it wasn’t Sung Jinwoo.
A face very similar to Sung Jinwoo in his childhood.
“Ehh?”
Esil tilted her head.
[Long time no see.]
Beru slowly appeared in front of Esil.
“Is… Is that you, Beru?!”
Esil was surprised to see Beru’s changed appearance after a long time.
“Why are you so small?”
The Beru she remembers was a demon more terrible than the one who took the lead in slaughtering his enemies by the side of Sung Jinwoo.
For some reason, Beru’s current form had changed into a cute figure the size of a fist.
On the other hand, Beru was equally curious.
[You have gotten a lot weaker. What happened?]
“Hehe. I had a hard time.”
Esil laughed and whimpered even while shedding blood.
Beru snorted as if that figure was pathetic.
[Your carefree personality is still the same despite being on the verge of dying.]
“As long as I’m still alive, that’s what matters. Hahaha.”
[What happened in the demon realm…]
Thud.
Esil collapsed to the ground even before Beru could finish his words.
The moment he saw Beru, all the tension she was feeling got relieved.
Esil whimpered while lying flat on the floor and called out to Beru.
“Beru, I really feel like dying, can you heal me?”
[Too bothersome.]
“Why?”
[It’s a waste of mana.]
Seeing Beru’s sudden refusal, Esil realized.
“Ahh. Are you weak too?”
[Kieek! I am not!]
Beru answered irritatedly.
Meanwhile, Suho’s battle continued.
[You have killed a low-level demon.]
[You have killed a low-level demon.]
[Vulcan’ Horn devoured a demon’s soul.]
[Vulcan’ Horn devoured a demon’s soul.]
…
The situation was already almost leaning towards Suho.
The Harsh Command, which increased Broki’s ability by a whopping 50%, had a much higher amplification effect than stardust.
In addition, the more demons were killed, the stronger Suho became.
[Devoured Demon Soul: 3]
[Devoured Demon Soul: 4]
…
[Effect ‘Destruction Desire’: Increases physical damage by [33%].
[Effect ‘Destruction Desire’: Increases physical damage by [34%].
…
[Your level increased!]
[Your level increased!]
“Keep it up!”
Slash.
Suho’s sword decapitated the last demon.
Just like that, Suho’s level reached exactly level 20.
Great.
Ring!
[Your level has exceeded 20, so you can use ‘Shop: Purchase’.]
“Huh?”
After checking the message that arrived, Suho tilted his head.
“There’s a shop system, too?”
Chapter 27
Ring!
Just in time, the quest was also completed.
[You have completed ‘Quest: Rescue the Victims’.]
[Number of rescued victims: 7]
‘Looks like they got out of the dungeon safely.’
Suho thought, remembering the hunters who carried the survivors on their backs.
He promised to let them get out as soon as possible so as not to be caught by the demons, and now only Suho had to escape on his own.
‘But, before that.’
[The quest completion reward has arrived.]
[Do you want to check the reward?]
( Y / N )
“Yes.”
Ring!
[The following rewards are prepared.]
Reward 1: Ability Points +3
Reward 2: 1 Random Box
“Random box?”
Suho got curious.
An ordinary ‘random box’ without the word ‘cursed’?
He had no idea what was inside.
Suho accepted all of the rewards.
All the ability points were allocated in the muscle strength stat, and after a while, a small random box appeared in Suho’s hand.
‘What’s in it?’
He quickly opened the wrapping paper, and unexpectedly, there were several shiny golden coins inside.
Clink.
[You have acquired ‘700 gold’.]
“Gold?”
Did they give him 700 gold because he saved 7 victims?
It was very coincidental to receive gold for use in shops as soon as the shop function was activated.
‘A coincidence… of course not.’
Suho was also dimly aware of it now.
In the level-up system inherited from his father, he felt the ‘goodwill’ toward him.
‘… Thank you for the allowance, father.’
All gold coins received went into the inventory.
At the bottom of the inventory, there was a mark that said 700 gold.
“Open the Shop.”
A new shop window opened in front of Suho.
[SHOP]
Buy / Sell
The shop window was extremely simple.
The moment Suho was about to check the purchase list to see what items he could purchase.
[Young Master.]
Beru suddenly appeared and asked.
[What will we do with that demon?]
Suho’s gaze returned to the dying female demon who collapsed on the floor.
‘Come to think of it, there was still that demon.’
The enemy of an enemy is a friend.
She was a devil who fought hard against low-level demons until a while ago, so he left without killing her. But now, it was time to make a choice.
He needed to check something first.
“I saw you a little while ago, and you were talking. Do you two know each other?”
[That’s right. The Radiru Clan was the only one that did not attack His Majesty when he subdued the demon realm.]
The Radiru Clan were demons who acknowledged their weakness and volunteered to become Sung Jinwoo’s slaves.
However, their surrender would never have been accepted if it had not been for Sung Jinwoo’s whims.
In fact, most of the demons that Sung Jinwoo encountered were dead.
Or, just like the low-level demons they encountered today, only the cowards who ran away from the battlefield early and hid out of Sung Jinwoo’s sight were still alive.
[His Majesty forcibly captured that demon named Esil and used her as a guide.]
“Excuse me…”
Esil, who had fallen on the floor, called for Suho with a dying voice, bleeding profusely.
“I’m sorry to disrupt your conversation, but could you please save me first? I really feel like dying.”
Right then.
Rumble-!
A sound echoed from Esil’s belly.
“Huh?”
As Suho and Beru’s gaze focused, Esil caressed her sunken belly with an embarrassed expression.
“I starved for a few years because I was being chased…”
Ahh.
When she said she was going to die, she must have meant that he was going to die of hunger.
* * *
In conclusion, Suho saved Esil in the end.
There were many reasons, one of which was to test the effect of the ‘potion’ he bought at the store.
[Item: Healing Potion]
Difficulty to get: E
Type: Consumables
A potion that can restore health.
Drinking it slowly restores 500 HP.
It can be stored in the inventory, but cannot be transferred to others.
‘It can’t be transferred to someone else. But, is it possible to feed it to them directly?’
Suho approached Esil and poured the potion into her mouth.
“Ah…!”
After drinking the potion, Esil’s wounds began to heal gradually.
“Wait, you’re a healer? How are you related to Jinwoo, by the way?”
Suho was quite surprised and yet ignored Esil’s gaze.
He just focused on the potion’s effect.
‘Hmm. The healing effect is a bit slow. It would be difficult to use it in a hurry during battle. Still, leveling up is the best.’
After a while, Esil’s condition improved to the point where she was able to move.
But, the sound from her stomach was still loud.
“I’m so hungry I have no energy…”
‘She fought well a while back though.’
For the second reason why Suho saved Esil…
It was because the energy he felt from Esil was not that great.
In other words, it would be easy.
Even after drinking the potion and recovering, the energy he felt from Esil was still at most C-Class.
According to Beru’s explanation, demon nobles originally had to have S-Class strength to be normal.
However, due to various complex reasons, Esil’s power was reduced in half.
‘But no matter how weak she is, I can’t just keep a demon out of the dungeon.’
For that reason, Suho made a choice.
[Would you like to enter the Shadow Dungeon?]
“Yes.”
Swoosh!
Suho took Esil to the Shadow Dungeon.
The Shadow Dungeon is a space that is not freely accessible except for shadow soldiers.
It was the perfect prison to confine the demon.
However, upon entering the Shadow Dungeon, Esil’s reaction was not what he expected.
“Ah, I can’t believe I’m back in the world of rest!”
Esil exclaimed with an ecstatic expression after seeing the world in black and white.
Then, looking back at Suho, she asked.
“How can you go into the world of rest through your shadows when you are not even the Shadow Monarch? What kind of relationship do you have with Jinwoo?”
“I’m his son.”
“Son? Oh, you were Suho?!”
Esil said in a louder voice.
“Oh my god! That little baby is already this big? Humans grow really fast.”
“Do you know me?”
Suho tilted his head.
No matter how much of his sealed memories returned, he didn’t remember all the faces he had seen when he was young.
On top of that, there were so many soldiers living in Sung Jinwoo’s world.
Suho looked away from Esil, who was happy to see him, and asked Beru.
“What is the world of rest?”
[It’s another name for the Shadow Dungeon.]
Beru answered.
The identifiers referring to the world ruled by the Shadow Monarch varied greatly.
Shadow World.
Realm After Death.
And, the World of Rest.
Other monarchs who are now dead had their own worlds like this.
However, the Shadow Monarch was the only one who carried an entire world in his shadow.
“Is this Shadow Dungeon a world I rule?”
[To be precise, it is the world ruled by His Majesty. But somehow, when the Young Master was born, that world was split in two. It would be more accurate to say that it proliferated.]
“So, one of them has become my shadow.”
Suho nodded.
The small talk was over, and it was time to get to the main point.
Suho looked at Esil and asked directly.
“Did you say your name is Esil? Anyway, I saved your life, so now tell me everything you know. What are the demons up to on Earth? Did something happen in the demon realm?”
“The thing is…”
Esil was hesitant.
“After the war, everything was fine at first. Sung Jinwoo killed all the other nobles, our dear Radiru Clan became number one in the demon hierarchy. He made our homeless family stay in the world of shadows.”
At that time, the demon realm had already lost its demon monarch and was torn to pieces, wandering through the dimensional rift.
In such a situation, Sung Jinwoo let the demons of the Radiru Clan who helped him live in his world.
But that was only for a moment.
“We couldn’t become inhabitants of the Shadow World after all.”
“Because they are contaminated souls?”
“You know very well.”
As Suho experienced, demons were basically mana-tainted spirits, so they could not be extracted as shadow soldiers.
“As a result, we had no choice but to return to the demon realm. No, to be precise, the devil realm called us.”
“Demon Realm?”
“Yeah. A red gate leading to the demon realm suddenly opened in front of us who lived in the shadow world. And suddenly it started sucking us in.”
A world that has lost its monarch calls for a monarch.
It was natural for the demon realm to call the Radiru Clan, the only existing demon nobles.
However, the demon realm was a world maintained by strict laws for the weak.
Had it not been for Sung Jinwoo’s help, the Radiru Clan, who were only ranked 20th, would not have the power to dominate the demon realm.
The demons who had been hiding from the Shadow Monarch throughout the war crawled out again when the war was over, and began to challenge Radiru’s seemingly formidable authority.
‘If only the Radiru Clan is gone!’
‘We can become nobles too!’
‘Let’s eat the nobles and drink their pure blood!’
‘If we consume pure blood, our demon energy will be amplified!’
… All the demons became one and started attacking the Radiru Clan.
They were the weakest among the nobles in the first place, so they lacked the strength to stop the rebellion.
“A demon with weak power does not deserve to live. The Radiru Clan was overpowered just like that, and their blood was consumed. Now, Esil was the only surviving Demon Noble.”
[Is that why you became so weak?]
“… Yeah. I almost died several times, and I lost a lot of blood. That’s why my strength has weakened.”
Beru, who was listening by the side, spoke.
[The order of power for the tribe of demons was determined from the time they were born. It’s not like they’re purebloods or hybrids for nothing. Since the basis of power is in the blood, they are frantic to drink blood.]
‘It’s similar to Gray.’
Suho seemed to have understood.
Esil nodded enthusiastically at Beru’s statement.
“That’s right. For that reason, demons are extremely afraid of their power being weakened. Whether you’re a noble or a hybrid, it’s a world where if you’re weak, you’ll be eaten. That’s why the people who summoned me earlier are really strange.”
“Is it strange?”
“Yes. Because they came to Earth even possessing the bodies of people weaker than themselves. To have a weak body is not a demonic behavior.”
Suho understood what Esil was trying to say.
“Are you saying that there is someone else behind the demons?”
“That’s right. Actually, the way they summoned me earlier was also strange. We demons are good at destroying and killing, but they don’t know how to use a magic skill that forcefully opens a dimensional wall.”
“Then what? Did someone teach the demons? Who?”
Beru, who was listening to the conversation from the side, let out a long sigh.
[… Could it be a transfiguration?]
“The chaos world?”
[Gate magic was originally a method often used by Yogumunt, Monarch of Transfiguration.]
“A spectre.”
Suho pondered Beru’s words and drew a picture in his head.
“Then the defeated soldiers from the demon world and the chaos world joined hands.”
One more thing.
‘Stardust.’
Mist Burn, one of the ingredients for stardust.
No, ‘blue mist’, the main composition of Mist Burn, was the magic of the universe that seeped through the boundaries of dimensions.
“… It seems that they are plotting something using the defeated soldiers here.”
[Yes. I think so, too.]
Beru nodded with a calm expression.
[Who knows… They might have already gotten on Earth.]
It seemed that the invasion had already begun.
Chapter 28
“Wait.”
For a moment, Suho felt a certain deja vu.
Looking back, all the recent events were connected.
Gwanaksan Field.
Hyena Guild.
Seoul Station Field.
They all had one thing in common.
“… These are all places that were created a year ago.”
[Ehh? Come to think of it! It seems that the aliens have been hiding on Earth since a year ago!]
“A year ago…”
Suho decided to start from there.
“Then shall we go in reverse order? If we search the dungeons, fields, and guilds that were created a year ago, will we come up with something else?”
If they find a demon, they might be able to strengthen Vulcan’s Horns more.If any other traces of outer space are found, that would be enough.
[Oh! As expected, our Young Master is very clever! You’ve grown well. It seems like it was only yesterday when I was teaching addition and subtraction…]
Beru said.
It just occurred to him.
“Right. It was there.”
The most famous area in Korea a year ago.
The scene of that horrific tragedy.
“In Magok.”
Suho’s eyes glimmered.
* * *
Hunter Association Surveillance Division.
“… No matter how much I brush some things off, other things keep coming out.”
The more Han Jaehyuk investigated the base of the destroyed Hyena Guild, the more absurd it became.
Even 100 reports were not enough to list all the evil deeds the Hyena Guild had done.
Among them, matters related to crime were transferred to the police hunters.
The areas of intensive investigation by the association were those outside the boundaries of the law.
For example, things like ‘stardust’.
… Stardust was not a drug per se.
So it wasn’t really illegal to use it.
That means one can keep taking that unknown medicine.
The Hunter Association has continued to investigate how stardust was made and who made it, and this time they finally got a clue from the base of the Hyena Guild.
Ledger of transactions.
When and how much stardust the Hyena Guild purchased.
They found a ledger that recorded who sold it and how.
This made it clear that the Hyena Guild was one of the distributors of stardust.
Although, they weren’t sure if they could even find out the main source of stardust.
“I didn’t expect some people to buy stardust even when they were in debt.”
“It could mean otherwise. If they went to a higher dungeon using stardust, they would have been able to pay off that much debt right away.”
“So they were earning money to keep coming back to Hyena and buy stardust?”
“In the end, only the Hyena Guild kept sweeping up the money in the middle. What a really creative economy.”
The real problem was that most of the hunters in the ledger were among the ‘missing people for the past year’.
Most of them probably fell prey to the boss mob that controlled Hyena from behind.
However, as they continued to examine the ledger, they found one strange thing.
Among those missing were marked with a red line.
They were debtors who were not hunters.
“Who are these people? Is there something different about them?”
“Oh? Team Leader! Look here!”
A subordinate showed some data to team leader Han Jaehyuk.
“If you look here, the date when stardust was received in large quantities from Hyena and the date when these checked missing people disappeared are the same day. Each and everyone of them.”
“… You’re right.”
“Does it have something to do with their disappearance?”
“Hmm.”
There was only one thing that came to their minds right away.
“… Could it be that they were traded for stardust?”
“Humans for stardust?”
Team Leader Han Jaehyuk looked through the ledger from the beginning.
He eventually found something out.
“Most likely. There’s the quantity of stardust bought from Hyena, but there’s no indicated actual amount of money paid for it. It means they didn’t pay.”
“T-That’s right. Could it be that they paid using people instead of money for stardust? Why?”
“We’ll have to figure it out. If Hyena didn’t make the stardust themselves, those who made it…”
Right then.
An urgent phone call arrived at the surveillance department.
“Team Leader! There’s a new report!”
“What report? I’m busy right now…”
“Someone discovered the Stardust Factory…”
“Let’s hurry up!”
* * *
When Han Jaehyuk received the report and arrived in front of the Seoul Station Field, everything was already over.
“What the hell just happened here?!”
There sat the survivors who were held in the factory and the hunters who rescued them, exhausted.
“It’s a long story but…”
The raid leader explained everything that had happened.
“Factory? You mean they were making stardust in here? Who? Demon?”
The more he listened to the explanation, the more and more the puzzles of the case that he had been investigating lately were being put together in his head.
Right now, there was no time to sit quietly and ponder.
“What? Is that true? Are you saying there’s still someone down there fighting the demons alone?”
“Yes. He said he would buy us time to escape… Please… Ack. Please hurry up and go in and save him!”
Meanwhile, Assistant Professor Lim had been stamping his feet, worrying about Suho’s safety.
At least in his eyes, Suho seemed to have barely overcome the first demon he encountered.
However, there were as many as 10 such demons in the factory.
‘I shouldn’t worry, Suho said he would get out of there on his own. Although, he must have said it to reassure us. That rascal, seriously…! Just like in the dungeon at Korea University, he tried to sacrifice himself for us!’
Han Jaehyuk, who heard all the explanations, held the weapon he had brought with a grim expression.
“All right. We’ll go right in.”
Thud!
His weapons were two steel shields huge enough to cover half of his body.
The moment those two shields were lifted in his hands, a transparent shield was overlaid on his whole body.
‘Iron Wall?!’
The moment he saw that, Assistant Professor Lim belatedly recognized who Team Leader Han Jaehyuk was.
He is a C-Class tanker whose skills were recognized enough to receive offers from various famous guilds.
Looking at it now, the hunters lined up behind him all looked great.
‘Everything’s going to be alright now! Suho will survive!’
Han Jaehyuk led the association’s hunters into Seoul Station with a more reliable appearance.
Then, suddenly, looking back in front of the entrance, he asked one last time.
“Ah, by the way, what class is the hunter who remained below?”
“Uhh. That…”
The raid leader opened his mouth hesitantly with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“He’s an E-Class collector.”
“… What?”
“…”
The raid leader was embarrassed.
Suddenly, the association hunters felt like they were useless.
It was really embarrassing.
* * *
“I’ll have to find out about Magok as soon as I get back.”
Suho finished all his errands and got out of the factory.
However, when he tried to go up to the ground, he felt something regrettable.
It was because of Broki.
“I just had released such a strong guy as a shadow soldier, so it’s a pity to send it away just like this.”
The said shadow soldier lasted only for a day.
Its shadow release became futile.
Also, since Suho doesn’t know when he’ll be able to get a monster of this level again, he wanted to use it as efficiently as possible.
[Do you want to turn around? There are still many lizards nearby.]
“I should.”
He decided to clean out the field.
“Broki.”
[Grrr!]
Broki, who became a shadow soldier, lost his ability to speak.
However, his intellect was still the same, so there was no need for lengthy explanations.
“Catch them all.”
[Grrrr!]
Like a typical beast, Broki had a very good sense of smell.
On Suho’s command, Broki searched for lizards hiding all over the field and killed them all by biting them.
Then, he brought the bodies and arranged them in front of Suho one by one.
Suho’s level was so high that the lizards don’t give much effect any longer.
“All of these are money.”
[Uhm. Young Master, since there are so many, I’d like to take a bite…]
“One bite…”
[This small one is definitely a worm.]
Beru tilted his head.
Suho,who had been hunting lizards with Broki, was wearing a crow mask.
Previously, he used it to pretend to be the youngest demon, but this time it was for a completely different reason.
In fact, this item had one minor function.
[Item: Crow Mask]
Difficulty to get: E
Type: Miscellaneous Item
A suspicious mask worn by demons.
Provides vision if used in a dark place.
Can be kept in inventory or sold in the shop.
‘It’s better than night vision goggles.’
Thanks to the increased senses stat, he was able to identify objects even in the dark. It was nice that the stuffiness wearing the crow mask disappeared completely.
Since each of the demons had one of these nice items, Suho brought all the masks of the demons in the factory.
But, the problem started from there.
“A demon!”
“Huh?”
[Ehh?]
The association hunters who entered the field just in time encountered Suho wearing a crow mask.
They had already heard from hunters outside that demons were wearing crow masks.
On top of that, a huge hyena, Broki, was standing next to Suho, looking absolutely evil.
“Attack!”
“No, wait…”
Before Suho could even open his mouth, the hunters’ attacks started pouring in, aiming at Suho.
Ring!
[An urgent quest has arrived.]
Ring!
[Urgent Quest: Defeat the Enemies!]
There are people around who have the intent to kill the ‘player’…
“Oh, not this. Reject, cancel.”
For his survival, there came an emergency quest.
Suho hurriedly refuses the quest and takes off his mask to reveal his identity.
“I’ll be in charge of this guy!”
Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, who had come close, swung his shield at Suho.
Meanwhile, the other hunters attacked Broki all at once.
“Wait, I mean…”
“Iron Wall!”
Flash!
A transparent shield came towards Suho like a huge barrier.
[Young Master!]
Beru shouted.
Suho eventually rolled up his hand to take off his mask.
“I’ll just have to suppress it for now.”
Right then, a black smoke was overlaid on his fist.
Swoosh.
He pierced himself into the transparent shield that was pressuring him.
With that one punch.
[Strength: 45]
Bang-!
“Huh?”
Han Jaehyuk’s body bounced off along with the shield.
Then.
Blag-!
He was plugged right into the wall.
“… What?”
Suho was dumbfounded.
The eyes of the association hunters who witnessed the scene widened.
“Team Leader…?”
“What is that…”
Crack.
The wall where Han Jaehyuk was plugged in collapsed, revealing his face with his eyes turned upside down.
He just fainted.
[Hmm. Can humans only do this much? Well, he invested all his stats only in strength.]
Beside Suho, Beru was nodding his head, saying that it was an expected result.
Suho took off his crow mask with an awkward expression.
“Can we resolve this through a proper conversation?”
“…”
With that, all the hunters nodded their heads coldly.
Chapter 29
Although there were minor(?) incidents, the post-processing was carried out in an instant.
The Association Hunters realized that Suho was not the demon, and he guided them to the factory.
“… Where are all the demons?”
When they arrived at the factory, there were only traces of battle, but no demons were visible.
When the hunters’ curious eyes focused on him, Suho made an awkward expression.
“Haha. I know, right. Did everyone run away?”
[Oops.]
Beside him, Beru was openly burping, but no one suspected anything.
They just thought the pet was the size of a stuffed toy.
“Hmm. It seems like they noticed us coming, so they all got away.”
“Well, we came too soon. We just heard the report and went to the scene right away.”
[Oops.]
Beru was grinding his teeth beside him, but no one particularly doubted him.
His stomach was protruding, but they thought it must have been his usual flat-bellied stomach.
“Still, I’m glad we secured the site.”
In fact, that alone was a great pleasure.
They found a factory that manufactured stardust.
Above all, it has even revealed the shocking fact that people’s lives are sacrificed in the manufacturing process.
“Thank you.”
The association hunters who came out of the field gathered all the hunters, including Suho and Assistant Lim, and thanked them.
“Thanks to your tip, many future crimes can be prevented. From now on, our association and police hunters will do their best to investigate.”
He added one thing.
“And, you will be paid a reward for this work.”
As usual, there was a small reward for those who reported crimes.
‘Good. I’m going to use this money to buy meat for the two.’
Suho nodded, remembering the ones left behind in the Shadow Dungeon.
Whether they were the last descendants of the canine clan or the only surviving demon nobles, they were just hungry refugees to Suho.
* * *
… When he opened his eyes, it was an unfamiliar ceiling.
“Uhh.”
“Team Leader, are you feeling better?”
Han Jaehyuk got up from the bed with a heavy feeling.
White walls and the smell of disinfectant.
It was a hospital.
He looked at his subordinate with a confused expression.
“Why am I here?”
“Don’t you remember? You fainted.”
“Faint?”
“Yes. One punch.”
“Ahh.”
Then there was a memory that passed through his mind.
‘That crow mask!’
He hurriedly got up from his seat and shouted.
“That demon! What happened to the demon?!”
“He’s not a demon.”
“What? H-He’s not?”
“Yes. The hunter we went looking for was him.”
“…?”
Seeing the confused team leader, the subordinate sighed and said, “It was all our misunderstanding.”
The subordinate told him everything that happened when he passed out.
Han Jaehyuk’s expression hardened.
“… What? What did you just say?”
“I just said it, clearly.”
“A summoning hunter? Who the heck would be a summoning hunter?”
“Who else? Of course, the hunter who knocked you out with one punch.”
“What?”
He realized he didn’t hear it wrong.
An expression of absurdity appeared on Team Leader Han Jaehyuk’s face.
“I was beaten by a summoning hunter and passed out? But, I am Han Jaehyuk.”
“Yes. So from now on, please don’t let your guard down and use your quick-witted skills first.”
“I-I did though.”
“You did?”
“I used a skill!”
The subordinate was even more surprised.
“Why did you pass out? You’re a C-Class tanker.”
“That’s what I’m saying!”
“Then, you passed out in one hit even after using your real skills? Does that make sense? Was he really an E-Class hunter?”
“E-Class? Are you kidding me right now?”
He glared at his subordinate with a grim expression.
However, the subordinate only shrugged his shoulders calmly.
“Why would I joke around? I also checked the hunter’s ID, and he was really E-Class. What was his name again? Sung Suho?”
“Sung Suho?”
When he heard the name, there was a face that flashed through Han Jaehyuk’s head.
Coincidentally, the name of the rookie E-Class hunter whom he had personally measured his mana power back then was Sung Suho.
‘There’s no way that would happen.’
“Right. That person.”
“…!”
“It’s not that I’m reading your mind but I was also with you at the time. Sung Suho, the E-Class hero of the Korea University dungeon, whose mana we measured directly, is the one who knocked you out.”
“R-Really? Wasn’t he a college student? How?”
Han Jaehyuk couldn’t believe it.
However, the subordinate responded indifferently.
“There must have been a measurement error. He punched you who even used skills with his bare fists. How could such a hunter be only an E-Class? I expect that at least he’s a C-Class.”
“Even so… How could he just…”
“Anyway, I apologize on his behalf. I told him to visit the association again and get a re-measurement. That’s the end of the briefing.”
“…”
“Then I’ll get off work.”
“…”
Prestige, once lost, never returns.
Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, who left all the work and just slept, muttered dejectedly as he looked at the back of his subordinate’s head as he left.
“Things these days…”
He suddenly remembered the moment he fainted.
‘E-Class was a measurement error?’
Well, it was fine.
It was a rare accident, but it happened occasionally.
But, one question still remained.
‘He must have been a summoning hunter, but…’
Seeing that there was an enormous beast that looked like a hyena right next to him, it was certain that he’s a summoning hunter.
But how?
‘How did he have such superpowers? Could that power be some kind of transformation of the summoning skill?’
Hmm.
He stroked his chin and thought of Sung Suho’s appearance that he had seen at the hospital.
An ordinary college student who looks quite decent.
He was tall and had a moderately muscular body.
But that was it.
Looking at the outside, he didn’t look like a hunter with absolute strength.
‘… Well, I’ll find out someday.’
More than that, there’s something he’s thinking of.
The words he left on the day Sung Suho’s mana was measured.
– Then, Mr. Sung Suho, I look forward to a good performance in the future.
Just like that time, a warm smile appeared on team leader Han Jaehyuk’s lips.
“… I’ll really look forward to it.”
He was looking forward to seeing what kind of hunter Suho would become in the future.
* * *
Reaper Guild.
Vice President Lee Minsung was angry to the core.
“What?! Why did the factory that was running fine suddenly disappear!”
“T-That… With the information from the hunters, the association…”
Fuck!
“Ack!”
Lee Minsung kicked the stomach of the man in front of him.
He screamed loudly as he got trampled on and flown into the wall.
“So what? What association? What do these bastards know me as? If they took the money, they should have brought the goods properly no matter what!”
“Oh, Mr. Vice President! We’re really victims, too! The demons in the factory disappeared without a trace.”
The actions of the A-Class hunter, who was angry to the top of his head, was too terrible to be called a simple vent.
If it wasn’t for hunter capabilities, even the man being trampled by those feet would have died in an instant.
After venting his anger like that, the man finally passed out. Minsung slapped him on the cheek to wake him up and grabbed him by the collar.
“Ha. So what happened to all the demons?”
“Ack. T-That…”
The man hurriedly spilled out everything he knew.
Lee Minsung squinted his eyes after hearing all the information.
“The location of the factory was discovered by hunters passing by by chance?”
“Yes. It is said that they fought the demons and rescued the civilians there.”
“Do you think that makes sense?”
“I-I…”
“What?!”
He grabbed the man by the collar.
“It’s not a large guild, and 10 demons were killed by raiders led by a C-Class? Only the captain is C-Class, the other nine are D-Class, and fucking E-Class collectors?”
“I a-also…”
“Also what?!”
“I also don’t think it makes sense!”
The man closed his eyes and shouted.
Only then did Lee Minsung let go of the man’s collar.
“Then what do you think? This time, you have to come up with some more useful suggestions. If you want to live.”
“… I think it must have been a prank on the part of the association.”
“Hmm?”
“As you know, the guys from the association have been chasing the source of the stardust. But this time, somehow, they found out the location of the factory.”
“So?”
“If they openly investigate stardust that is not yet illegal, they will have to check guilds that handle stardust like us. Then… ”
“We put the clumsy ones up front and move as they report to us?”
“Yes! That’s it!”
“Okay. That makes some sense.”
Minsung nodded his head in agreement.
“I’ve seen those demons myself. They were absolutely impossible to deal with for low-level hunters.”
“That’s right.”
“So?”
“What?”
“That must be a great solution, right?”
Again, a terrible murderous spirit emanated from Lee Minsung as he strangled the man.
“Of course! There is not just one factory. The Seoul Station field was only convenient for delivery because of the subway line, but if you look for it, demons will hide here and there and set up star powder factories.”
“Here and there? Why are there so many demons?”
Only then was Lee Minsung giggling as if satisfied.
However, the eyes looking at the man were not smiling at all.
“I’ll say it again, you know that the only reason I took you guys was because of the stardust, right?”
“Yes, of course… We are also always grateful to you, Vice President.”
“Then, do your thing. Shouldn’t you repay the favor?”
“Grrr!”
As he answered, hair gradually grew on the man’s face and transformed into a werewolf.
The man’s identity was none other than the remnants of the Hyena Guild that was being chased by the Association.
But now he had nowhere to go, so he became the faithful follower of Vice President Lee Minsung.
However, it was only his appearance. The inside was different.
‘Damn, that’s a big problem. In a few days, the power of blood will completely disappear.’
The ability of the hyena guild members to turn into werewolves by drinking the blood of the canine clan lasted only ten days.
If they don’t drink blood regularly every 10 days, they would go back to being an ordinary normal person, let alone the beast transformation skill.
It was clear that if Vice President Lee Minsung found out about this, he would ruthlessly throw them out.
‘Before that, I have to do something. Either find the lost wolf cub in Gwanaksan, or… find traces of other monarchs similar to him.’
Two options.
* * *
Meanwhile, Suho went to the butcher shop with the reward money he received.
“Yes, please come in~”
The butcher, who was preparing the meat, talked to Suho with a friendly tone then smiled.
“What kind of meat would you like?”
“One pig… Do you sell them whole?”
“…?!”
“Ah, no. I need two.”
“…!”
Chapter 30
“Grr…”
Gray was crouching down and keeping an eye on his prey.
[Gray Lv.4]
Canine Wolf
His level had risen a little, but his size was still like that of a palm.
As a descendant of the great canine clan, he had grown up enough to easily hunt one or two goblins.
Thanks to that, Gray has recently been strong enough to walk around with his tail standing upright.
If three goblins plan to attack at the same time, they would quickly roll up their tails and take refuge in a small pre-dug burrow.
Gray would eventually give up and go back because the den was too small.
One day, a big crisis came to Gray who was adapting to the life of the shadow dungeon while playing with such big and stupid goblins.
An uninvited guest suddenly came to the Shadow Dungeon!
“Hnnggg…”
Gray was secretly approaching the uninvited guest with an extremely cautious look.
The guest looked pretty strong, but didn’t seem to have any strength, probably starving for a long time.
‘I can do it.’
That part aroused sympathy in Gray.
‘I can do it.’
It was a very honorable thing to hunt a prey stronger than oneself.
Gulp.
Gray held his breath and waited for an opening with a tense expression.
And finally!
Excited.
The guest moved!
“I can see you.”
“Hnnggg?”
Esil’s hand lifted Gray’s nape and glared at him.
“Hnngg! Hnnngggg!”
Oh! Got caught!
Gray was startled and kicked his short legs.
When he realized that no matter how hard he struggled, he could not escape Esil’s clutches, he howled fiercely with his defiant eyes.
“Awooo!”
“Oh, really. If it wasn’t for you being Suho’s pet, I would have eaten you.”
Esil looked at Gray and licked her lips, saying that it was such a pity.
‘I never thought that the descendant of the Fang Monarch would remain in a place like this.’
Although he was no more than a bite in size, the blood and flesh of the Fang Clan is itself a very precious elixir.
“Hnnnggg!”
“What? You want to taste it?”
Gray twisted his snout around and eagerly licked Esil’s hand that was holding his back.
Even so, his eyes continued to glare at Esil with a bold expression.
“Oh my. You’re a funny puppy.”
Esil finally laughed.
“Well, you know instinctively. If you eat me, you will gain strength.”
‘Because we’re actually in the same position.’
She was the only demon noble alive in the demon realm.
In other words, she was the only legitimate person who might one day become the Demon Monarch.
Just as the demons were aiming for Esil’s blood this time, the pure blood flowing through Esil’s body had precious power in itself.
‘… And the same goes for you.’
This cheeky little cub was the only one of the canine clan who might one day become the Fang Monarch.
Esil suddenly had a strange feeling.
‘To think that two pure-bloods from a clan destroyed by war are gathered here. For what purpose did Suho gather us?’
“Oh, c’mon! Stop licking!”
Right then.
[You have entered the Shadow Dungeon.]
Swoosh!
Suho and Beru enter the Shadow Dungeon just in time.
There was a fresh whole pig in their hands.
Two whole pigs!
“Oh!”
“Ehh?”
Esil and Gray’s heads turned at the same time.
Rumble-!
A loud noise echoed from Esil and Beru’s stomachs.
Suho chuckled and pushed the whole pig forward.
“I heard demons like meat.”
“Yes! Anything but grass!”
Esil quickly threw Gray and took the whole pig from Suho.
Gray came back and greedily exposed his teeth in front of Esil.
Rumble!
“Hnnnggg!”
Gray suddenly turns over on his stomach and starts twisting his body around.
However, Esil was adamant.
“No. Go back. This is my meal.”
“Huff huff huff!”
“There’s no use wagging your tail now!”
“Grrr!”
The wolf cub and the demon noble were arguing over a whole pig.
Suho, who watched the scene from behind, couldn’t hide his dejected expression.
‘Why do carnivores seem to be gathering around me more and more these days?’
Chomp!
[Kehehe! It is delicious!]
“…”
Two whole pigs were brought.
From behind, Beru was clinging to the remaining one and was eating it.
Even the brave Gray did not dare to take Beru’s food.
“Thank you for the food!”
Esil shoved her hand inside the pig’s body.
The large whole pig began to shrivel around Esil’s hand.
‘Oh.’
Beru appeared next to Suho, who was curiously looking at him, and explained.
[They suck in the mana that was in the pig’s body. Each demon has a different way of eating, but demon nobles usually prefer a clean method.]
“Oh, you scared me. Are you an explanation worm or what?”
[You are the worm, Young Master.]
Beru said casually.
Then he went back to his pig and opened his mouth wide.
Chomp.
Beru, contrary to Esil, seemed to prefer a sloppy way of eating.
Suho smiled and slowly looked away.
“So, while I…”
Sniff sniff.
Krrrk, Krrrk.
Wild goblins who smelled the meat were gathering around them one by one.
Suho stretched out his hand.
“Hmm.”
One of them suddenly floated up in the air and struggled on its legs.
Ruler’s Power.
A faint smile crossed Suho’s lips.
“Should I be doing the daily quest?”
[Daily Quest: Cleaning the Shadow Dungeon]
100 Goblins: Incomplete (0/100)
10 Commander Goblins: Incomplete (0/10)
1 Main Commander Goblin: Incomplete (0/1)
* * *
[The completion reward has arrived.]
[Do you want to check the reward?]
( Y / N )
Suho felt that his abilities had risen again.
‘Now, even a hundred goblins does not seem to be morning exercise.’
Suho lightly brushed his hands among the dead bodies of the goblins.
The two swords, Rakan’s Sword and Vulcan’s Horns, were stuck into the ground.
‘Looks like a hidden quest won’t appear like last time.’
He caught a few more this time, but somehow the hidden reward seemed to be a one-time thing.
Still, the normal daily quest rewards were also good enough.
[The following rewards are prepared.]
Reward 1. State Recovery
Reward 2. Ability Points +3
Reward 3. 1 Random Box
Suho decided to keep the first reward, ‘status recovery’ unaccepted.
‘I’ll save this and use it later in case of an emergency.’
He could recover his HP with potions, but the recovery amount was small and the speed of recovery was slow.
On the other hand, the ‘status recovery’ reward restores HP immediately.
It was good to use in an urgent situation.
‘All stats are invested in strength.’
The higher the strength stat, the higher the power and speed.
‘Random Box.’
This time it wasn’t a hidden reward, so an ordinary random box appeared in Suho’s hand.
When the box was opened, a small ring rolled out.
[You have acquired ‘Item: Gray Ring’.]
“Ring?”
When Suho took out a dull colored ring, the description of the item appeared.
[Item: Gray Ring]
Difficulty to get: D
Type: Accessory
Sense +5
“It raises the senses stat by 5 points?”
Suho’s eyes widened.
It was a pretty good item for what it looked like.
Sense stat is a stat that raises the five senses, and increases the ability to detect danger.
In other words, the sense of catching an unexpected event rises.
Suho quickly put the ring on his finger.
The size was loose, but it was not a problem.
[‘Item: Gray Ring’ is worn.]
The gray ring disappeared from the finger, and the stats were added immediately.
[Senses: 29 (+5)]
‘A normal random box is also very good. It feels like they were giving away prizes.’
Suho completed the daily quest just like that.
[Oops.]
The meal was already over.
Esil, who had been watching Suho hunt the goblins from behind, was making a puzzled expression.
It wasn’t polite to help someone else hunt, so she just watched him. She found the situation itself with goblins wandering around here as something strange.
“It’s a big deal.”
“What?”
“How did the dimensional refugees get here?”
“Dimensional refugees?”
“I mean those guys. After the War of the Outer Gods, the surviving defeated soldiers were caught up in the dimensional rift and mixed here and there. They are called the dimensional refugees.”
In a way, it was quite expected.
Since all the monarchs who were the central point disappeared, the monsters under them were scattered.
“But, I don’t think this is a coincidence.”
[What’s not a coincidence?]
Beru also showed interest in Esil’s words.
“That’s uh… In fact, breaking through the dimensional wall is a very difficult task.”
[I agree. If it was easy, I would have gone back to His Majesty right away.]
Beru nodded.
In the old days, you had to be at least the Spectre Monarch to break through the gate to another dimension.
Even that was never easy.
“It was such a case for Beru, but can only the defeated soldiers of the war come over the wall of dimension so easily?”
[What?]
A strange glimmer appeared in Beru’s eyes.
Suho also noticed what Esil was trying to say and nodded.
“Could it be because of the blue mist?”
“That’s right. The blue mist from outer space began to tangle the walls of our dimension. How severe was the disintegration that even such weak goblins flowed into the world ruled by the Shadow Monarch?”
Esil shrugged, saying it was ridiculous.
-I agree with that statement.
Rakan’s Sword in Suho’s hand suddenly interrupted the conversation.
-There is no way that the defeated soldiers would have entered the world ruled by the victor of the war on their own feet unless they have gone mad. It must have been that the dimensional rift was really tightly twisted.
‘Ah.’
During the conversation, Suho suddenly realized an important fact.
“Beru, let me ask one thing.”
[Yep.]
“Didn’t you say that the strength of my father’s soldiers and the apostles of outer gods are similar?”
[That’s right. It was so tense that even the monarch didn’t dare to come to Earth himself, so he sent me.]
“If you think of it the other way around, wouldn’t the outer space side all the more dare to come over to Earth right now?”
[What?]
Beru’s eyes widened.
[… Oh?]
There, his eyes widened once again.
“Right?”
[Young Master is right! Of course they will!]
Beru nodded frantically.
Suho also nodded and murmured.
“That’s why they use dimensional refugees. Since they couldn’t come on their own, it’s clear that they gathered dimensional refugees and sent them to Earth instead.”
And this was not a bad situation at all from the perspective of the dimensional refugees.
Because from their point of view, Earth was a perfect place.
To kill, steal, and conquer as much as they want.
‘And another one.’
Suho finally realized the meaning of the daily quest given to him.
[Daily Quest: Cleaning the Shadow Dungeon]
“We need to clean up the goblins as soon as possible and find the gap in the dimension they crossed over to and block it.”
[You’re right. If we continue to leave the dimensional refugees alone, they will keep coming. No, to be exact…]
“They will find out about my existence.”
[…]
Suho was clearly aware of his situation.
“Because, I am my father’s only weakness.”
He found another reason to become stronger.
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