Chapter 18

Status: Very Unstable (4)

Optimus Guild. I had seen them a lot through video footage in my past life. During the ethics study session in the regular training sessions for hunters in the future, data on the incident was included. The purpose was to keep everyone’s minds on what kind of ramifications could occur when the ethics to be followed as a hunter were violated. I had enough of it after seeing it every year, but the expressions of hunters who saw it were dark and gloomy every time.

The number of victims due to the disaster in Gyeongwon was even greater than the chaos caused by the Cataclysm. In Korean society, every other person was associated with a disaster victim, and the hunters were no different. It caused that many casualties. The documentary, used as educational material, calmly recorded the victims’ stories.

‘I don’t know how to live from now on.’

The video began with an interview with a father crying about losing his entire family. The scene changed, and the survivors’ interviews followed with how their ordinary lives were ruined — explaining what happened in that nightmarish day. There were those who sacrificed themselves to protect their loved ones, the scene where even those who the heroes wanted to protect were gruesomely murdered, students who hadn’t yet deleted the number of their dead friends stored on their cell phones, children waiting for their parents who couldn’t return, and people who had been saved but were forced to live with mental traumas that couldn’t be cured, even with magic.

Next was the story of why this had happened. The target that all hunters poured out their fierce anger at every education session. The cause of the situation. Their leader, their Guild Master, was in front of me.

“What kind of bastard are you?!”

They didn’t even think of ambushing me as they confidently surrounded me from the front. They had made a mistake in only relying on their numbers. I quietly glanced around as I thought. What could make them so prideful? With what rights could they vomit such anger? I then asked, pretending not to know.

“You guys must have been secretly farming here?”

“Yeah, you fucking bastard, what do you think this is for you to crawl in? You got a death-wish?!”

His personality leaked through his speech.

“Well, this is a dungeon on the verge of collapse.”

“What collapse?! This is our area, hell!”

His eyes flashed with murder. At the same time, I sensed a strange sense of superiority in that attitude. He was underestimating me. He pointed his finger at me, his neck veins all bulged up.

“You, what kind of bastard are you, huh? I’m asking you, bastard!”

The intention of that question was this: he spouted threats, but he wondered if there was support behind me that he wouldn’t be able to handle. If there was such a background, it was expected that it would be revealed here right away, just like Secretary Kim did to threaten the men who had attacked us before. When I didn’t answer, his face became more distorted, but at the same time, I could read a sense of relief from their eyes as well.

“A punk with no name and nothing to give puts his dirty toes on another’s sacred table? Fuck you!”

As I didn’t immediately protest, he must’ve made up his mind. He had seen the dagger in my hand and had decided on picking a fight.

“Looking at how you cleared it, you must be an explorer-type. Are you very confident? Huh? Do you believe that you could mess around and still be able to live just by trusting in your skills? Huh?”

It was clear what they were misunderstanding. A dagger was a favorite weapon for hunters who had mastered exploration and stealth skills, as it worked well with those skills.

“Won’t you answer?!”

He again pretended to be agitated and started shouting once more. The screaming resonated in the air. He stared at me and began snorting steam. Perhaps him pretending to be angry was actually making him pissed. On the other hand, while Gye Yong-hwan was swearing in the front, the guy standing behind quietly concentrated on gathering their mana. He was aiming at me with a sword in hand, but this was all just a front. It was clear that the ‘runestone’ hidden in his arms was sucking up mana. Looking at the pattern, he was preparing a magical skill that would strike at me from a distance.

Weeing!

In the first place, this was a dungeon. No matter what background I had, they would think that it was okay if they just finished me here. Moreover, they would be judging that this was a dungeon that was unknown to anyone and that only these guys knew. I could read their obvious thoughts. And so, I spoke to Gye Yong-hwan.

“Status, very unstable.”

He showed the whites of his eyes as he responded.

“What is that, you crazy bastard?”

I calmly explained.

“Didn’t you see the dungeon status when you entered the gate? Don’t you know what this means? If you leave it alone, it means that it may collapse at any moment. A dungeon with only forty days before its evolution. What the hell were you thinking? To leave this unattended? Do you know how many large cities are nearby? You endanger all their lives.”

“How do you know if it will collapse or not. Fuck, are you a shaman?”

“What if it collapses? What will you do about it? Who knows what class this dungeon evolve to? If your mistake results in that many casualties…!”

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“Then how is it my fault? You dumb bastard!”

“···”

I looked at him wordlessly.

“If the gate collapsed, is it my fault that the gate was opened in the first place? You let shit out of your mouth about a thing that doesn’t even make sense, idiot.”

He sarcastically continued.

“The idiots are the government bastards who didn’t discover this gate. Why is that my fault to take advantage of it? What if the gate collapses, you ask? What can I do? We’re all fucked. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be? Why do you ask me what to do when the world has changed like this?! If that happens, it’s just shit luck, luck! Is it my fault that the luck of the people in this neighborhood is bad?”

He laughed and swore sincerely as if it weren’t his fault. There were such people. They were endlessly tolerant of themselves and pretended that it wasn’t their problem, no matter what damage others suffered as a result. I watched the spell being completed by the hunter standing next to Gye Yong-hwan.

Perhaps that was the most powerful spell he could use right now. In short, they were trying to finish me off. If I were a common hunter, I would die in an instant if I were hit directly. However, I was confident about this. They were trying to kill me here. Perhaps a signal must’ve been exchanged between them. Or perhaps they came up with a plan in advance. Thanks to this, my choice had also been made simpler. I spoke once more.

“Now I’m talking about it. Fortunately, the situations I assumed won’t happen, so don’t worry.”

“What?”

Suspicion ran through Gye Yong-hwan’s eyes.

“This dungeon, I’m going to close it.”

“…You puny bitch!”

The moment his face flushed red, I moved.

Dash!

[Acceleration!]

Gye Yong-hwan tried to say something, but instead, a wispy scream came out from his lips. As I passed him, I cut the neck of the wizard who had been aiming at me with a sharp dagger.

Shaaa!

“H-how?!”

It was the moment just before the skill was completed and the magic circle formed.

“Fuck!”

His expression was distorted. The sorcerer, whose artery had been sliced through, was shocked at the sight of blood spewing from his neck, and then his eyes rolled back. He fell over, nose-first, in the puddle of blood he created. The group stiffened at the sudden carnage. However, in the next moment, the remaining three immediately ran towards me, breaking formation.

“Hit him! Kill him! Break him!”

Their swords and axes carved violent trajectories as threatening mana sliced the air, emanating blue light.

“Ah, fuck! Get it right!”

However, everyone missed it. In the process of preparing for an attack, the movement of their mana was obvious. Which way they would run, what skills they were preparing, and who would come first. I ran through that void.

“This son of a…!”

Swing!

Gye Yong-hwan swung his sword downward. It took a lot of power, but its path was painfully obvious. I pretended to counter it, then immediately let it go and deflected it away.

Ting!

The sound of metal clanging rumbled in my ears. I overtook Gye Yong-hwan and moved to his side. Twisting my body to the side, I stuck a dagger in the heart of the man running in with an ax.

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Crush!

I murmured inwardly, pulling my dagger out of his chest. Thanks to the artifact, the mana shield activated by his skill could be penetrated without a problem. Only two were left — Gye Yong-hwan and his subordinate. They rushed to either side of me.

“Fuck! This bastard…!”

Such reactions and profanities were like drugs to try to forget the fear of battle. However, it could only be helpful to an extent. When yelling, breathing was disturbed, and efficient movement was eventually broken down. I lashed out with a foot toward the foul-mouthed subordinate.

Smash!

“Ahhhhhh!”

The opponent’s mana barrier blocked my kick to his shin so that I couldn’t break his bones. However, it was enough just to inflict pain to stop. The momentary sway in his balance led to him paying a great price.

Piiissh!

The dagger quickly moved through his neck. He spat out blood as he staggered his knees, then he collapsed, vomiting blood bubbles. The only person left was Gye Yong-hwan.

“This…this…this!”

He tried to curse yet ended up swallowing his words instead. And then, as if he must have now noticed his blood turning cold with fear and tension, he didn’t rush towards me. He slowly took a stance and aimed for my weak spot. I could feel him accumulating mana in the sword. In our exchange of glances, his eyes shone with murderous intent.

Shook!

As if he couldn’t stand his impatience, he again swung his sword in an obvious path. However, the amount of mana condensed in it was serious. I judged that it would be impossible to counter it as it was, so I quickly pulled back.

[Acceleration!]

Shaaa!

With one backstep, I quickly escaped from the trajectory of the sword. I quickly looked inside myself.

-Active Mana: 720 (+80)/640

-Potential Mana: 71,600

Since I absorbed the Orc’s cores, the mana left remained above the limit, but I had no more room to absorb the cores or consume potions in the current situation.

Cling! Cling-Clang!

His longsword and my dagger crossed a few more times. His Mana level visible was about 2,000. In terms of the hunter class, it was lower D-class. I had a high probability of reaching E-class if measured in this state. In other words, if I continued with a simple Mana fight, I would be exhausted first. There was no reason to prolong this further.

“Hooah!”

As he yelled, he stabbed toward my chest. The blades collided and rubbed, followed by a tight tug of war. My short blade was at a disadvantage in terms of range, so he tried to corner me at a reasonable distance. As I read the path, I rushed and backed off with acceleration, looking for a gap. However, unlike his subordinates, he was better at evading my attacks. Their basic physical ability and Mana amount were of a different level. He was a hunter, one rank higher than them.

‘I have to break his balance!’

My moment had finally come.

Cling!

My dagger glided against his blade and touched Gye Yong-hwan’s wrist.

Slice!

“Haaap!”

Blood splattered from his wrist. However, Gye Yong-hwan didn’t care about the wounds. Perhaps in a determination to take my bones, he rushed in to slice me.

Wooshhhh!

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As I pushed in too deeply, I couldn’t completely avoid his attack.

Rip!

There was a burning pain as a long red line was drawn on my thigh. With a clenched jaw, I barely made the distance with acceleration, but when I stepped back on the ground, I stumbled. My muscle was deeply cut. Gye Yong-hwan looked at me with a wicked smile as if he had captured the victory. He seemed to be convinced that I would no longer be able to move as freely as before.

The only wound I inflicted on Gye Yong-hwan was a light cut on the wrist. In return, my lower body was cut deep enough to make it difficult to move.

“What a rowdy bastard, now that his legs are cut that deeply, his end…”

However, he couldn’t finish talking.

Wheeing!

Light rose from the serpentine bracelet around my wrist. As the white light covered my body, only the cut cloth remained as the sliced flesh mended and the blood dissipated.

“What the fuck?!”

The man baffled, then clenched his jaw. As he did so, I ran to him again. Gye Yong-hwan struggled with fluctuating emotions as he swung his sword.

“Ugh! Huh!”

His movement began to slow down as if struggling in the water.

“What…what is this…!”

Just a little while ago, with just a slight cut on his wrist, it took effect. This was Lorto’s dagger; the paralysis poison was now showing its presence.

“Keup!”

He struggled to resist and swung his sword a few more times, but his movement was noticeably slower. From then on, I just wandered at a distance and waited for the poison to spread completely. Blue veins bulged on Gye Yong-hwan’s temple. He staggered, and his legs started to falter. I watched his sword and glared at him even when he was on his knees.

‘It’s over.’

I approached him with the dagger.

Thump!

He lost his strength, fell completely, and hit the floor. In that state, Gye Yong-hwan’s mouth bubbled, and his whole body convulsed as if he was shivering. He looked up at me, and our eyes met. Gye Yong-hwan also felt that everything was now over. His tongue must not have been completely paralyzed, as he forced his mouth to move clumsily.

“Th…thpare…thpare my life…”

My eyes were cold.

“···”

The sound kept leaking out of his mouth.

“Thepare my life…”

When I heard that, the documentary came to mind again. A mother remembered the last call with her daughter, who had been living in Gyeongwon-Si. She cried over the phone, asking for help, and her parents, who couldn’t do anything at that moment, cried with a heart-breaking sadness during their interview.

In the future, the investigation and arrests were carried out by one of the guild members’ statements. One of the guild members who couldn’t bear the guilt had already committed suicide before investigators even found him. However, only one, guild leader Gye Yong-Hwan, who fled abroad in advance, wasn’t caught. Even by the arrest orders of government councils worldwide and the hunter union, they couldn’t trace his whereabouts.

“Eugh, plea, pleathe… thav…”

My gaze fell over Gye Yong-Hwan’s struggling body. The fact that made my heart heavier was that the disaster in Gyeongwon was just a prelude to the events that followed. Numerous incidents continued after the Korean disaster, and forty years later, the SSS-class dungeon finally collapsed. Although it was impossible to weigh each victim’s tragedy, it was an incomparable event in terms of how many more people were involved. And there was even the betrayal of a maniac, which was like the death sentence for humanity.

All should be stopped, and I would be the one to stop it.

“Eeeu! If you…kill me…our…!”

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I look down on him. Gye Yong-hwan’s eyes trembled, trying to say something desperately.

Swish!

Without hesitation, I swung the dagger and stuck it in his forehead.