Chapter 219

From the early days of the Great Cataclysm to the present, humanity had drawn on countless experiences of death and destruction to classify monsters and establish a hierarchy among them.

Accordingly, the Grade of each Gate was determined by the Grade of the monsters inhabiting it.

However…

There are exceptions to every rule.

Mutated Gates were one such exception. They existed outside the boundaries humanity had established. They were, in every sense of the word, mutations.

Gates were already an enigma to humanity, and now another variable had entered the equation.

The worst kind.

A D-Rank monster could appear in an F-Rank Gate. A B-Rank monster could appear in a D-Rank Gate.

That alone was the stuff of nightmares, but an even greater problem remained.

Rare Monsters.

As if running into an unexpected higher-level monster wasn’t bad enough, every one of those creatures possessed strength that surpassed that of other monsters of the same Grade.

That was when the term Rare Monster was first coined.

Before long, someone raised another question.

Then what about the Rare Monsters that appear in A-Rank Mutated Gates? Aren’t they too strong to be considered the same Grade?

For Hunters, A-Rank was the highest level attainable through a single awakening.

Those acknowledged as particularly strong even among A-Rank Hunters received the prestigious Title of ranker.

The same issue applied to monsters. After endless debate within the relevant academic circles, a new term was born.

Named Monster.

True monstrosities that had transcended the limits of A-Rank.

Team Leader 1, the only one to return alive, had said that such a Named Monster was here.

Right where we stood, in the Wyvern’s Nest.

“Bullshit!”

Won Myunghoon seized Team Leader 1 by the collar with a furious shout.

“A Named Monster? There’s no way something like that could be here.”

“I-I’m telling the truth. I saw it clearly with my own eyes.”

Team Leader 1 continued in a trembling voice.

“It was several times larger than an ordinary Wyvern. I could hardly believe it even while I was looking right at it.”

“Shut up!”

But the terror the Named Monster had instilled in Team Leader 1 was beyond anything I could have imagined.

The title of A-Rank Hunter seemed wasted on him. He was as terrified as a seven-year-old child.

“That thing is on a completely different level from any Wyvern we’ve faced before. We need to run. Right now.”

“Kim Jonghun, you son of a…”

Grind.

Won Myunghoon ground his teeth, but that was all he did.

He might have fallen short of my expectations in every possible way, but he was still an A-Rank Hunter who had once risen to the ranks of the rankers. There was no way he didn’t understand what everyone else here already knew.

Won Myunghoon was berating Team Leader 1 merely to hide his own fear.

There must have been signs that this was a Mutated Gate.

I knew them well. I had experienced them myself three years ago.

Strangely few monsters. And far more Magic Gems than the number of defeated monsters should have yielded.

I hadn’t known about the latter. The Star Guild was responsible for handling the spoils, and although this was a joint raid, Won Myunghoon was still the commander with final say over everything.

And that commander just shit the bed.

This was no minor error in judgment.

The creature stalking us somewhere in the wasteland wasn’t an ordinary Wyvern. It was a Named Monster.

“Fucking hell…”

As Won Myunghoon spat out the curse, Team Leader Choi spoke.

“Calm down. Our priority right now should be to withdraw immediately.”

“Calm down? Do I look like I can calm down in a situation like this?”

“I’m telling you to compose yourself and face reality.”

Team Leader Choi continued in the same measured voice.

“Fortunately, it isn’t too late. If we turn back and retrace our route as quickly as possible, we can reach the jungle within an hour. But if we encounter that thing out here in the wasteland…”

“You think I don’t know that? Stop meddling.”

The cheerful, courteous gentleman was gone. Team Leader Choi’s gaze cooled at Won Myunghoon’s irritable response.

“That’s unfortunate. I didn’t expect you to take it that way.”

“Unfortunate? Just because we’re cooperating, you seem to think we’re really equals or something… Fuck, there’s no point in talking. Anyway, stop telling me what to do. I’m already in a shitty mood.”

They said a crisis revealed a person’s true nature.

If that was true, this was all there was to Won Myunghoon. The bitter part was knowing I had once idolized someone like him.

Won Myunghoon turned to the Guild members, his face tense with anxiety.

“Take only the Magic Gems. We’re heading back to the Gate entrance as fast as possible.”

There were two ways out of a Gate: the entrance we had used to come in, and the exit that opened once the boss monster was killed.

Under the circumstances, the former was obviously the right choice.

“Yes, sir.”

The preparations were completed quickly. The only problem was Team Leader 1, who remained deathly pale.

“What’s wrong with that guy?”

Butler Kim, who had stayed one step behind me and kept quiet the entire time, answered my mutter.

“He’s been exposed to a monster’s Fear.”

“An A-Rank Hunter?”

“The opponent is a Named Monster.”

“Oh.”

“And a Grade is merely a measure of strength. It has nothing to do with how strong someone’s mental fortitude is.”

Even so, an A-Rank Hunter had succumbed to Fear.

That left two possibilities. Either Team Leader 1 was weak-willed to begin with, or the Named Monster was simply that powerful.

Personally, I’d prefer the former.

With that thought, I approached Team Leader 1. I only meant to help him up, but he recoiled as if he’d been burned.

“It’s okay. I’m not trying to hurt you. You know me, right?”

“J-Jin Taekyung.”

“You’re still lucid, at least. Now pull yourself together and get up. Unless you’d rather keep sitting there until you become its prey.”

“Gah!”

Sometimes it was better to stoke someone’s fear than inspire courage.

The word prey sent Team Leader 1 shooting to his feet. He glanced around anxiously.

“Th-that thing…?”

“It isn’t here. More importantly, how did you make it back alive?”

I had wanted to ask him that for a while. No one else had thought to once the words Named Monster came out.

Team Leader 1 chewed on his lip.

“I had no choice.”

“…I see.”

He had run away. He had abandoned his team members.

But I didn’t condemn him. Not because I understood, but because I didn’t think I had the right.

Someone else can curse him out, but not me.

Whether he knew what I was thinking or not, Team Leader 1 began rambling incoherently.

“We were approaching carefully, but it saw us. Then it spread its wings—its black wings—wide…”

“Black wings?”

“Y-yes. It was black all over, from its head to the tip of its tail.”

A memory suddenly surfaced.

The screams that had filled the cave. Those enormous wings.

The Wyvern I had encountered back then had also been entirely black.

“A Black Wyvern.”

“No, it was different. It was several times larger and stronger than the Black Wyverns we’ve seen so far. That thing… it’s a real monster.”

Then it couldn’t have been the same creature I’d encountered three years ago.

After the Sangdong Station Mutated Gate incident, I had been subjected to countless investigations. The team dispatched to investigate the truth behind the incident had concluded that the creature didn’t fall far outside the normal range for a Black Wyvern.

Then where is it now?

Monsters inside Gates respawned at regular intervals. By the time the investigators arrived, it had already disappeared.

Whenever I drank, I sometimes found myself wondering.

Where is it now? Did another Hunter kill it? If it’s still alive, will I ever get the chance to take revenge?

Now it’s possible.

As long as we were both alive, the day would eventually come when we met again.

I had left it with an indelible memory, and it had done the same to me.

But apparently, that day wasn’t today.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

“Taekyung!”

The Guild members had finished preparing and were waiting for me. I had just started toward the formation when—

“One eye.”

The single word that suddenly came from Team Leader 1’s mouth made my body freeze.

I slowly turned around. Team Leader 1 pointed to one of his own eyes with a trembling hand.

“What did you just say?”

“That’s right. One of its eyes was ruined. Like something had stabbed it…”

“…!”

A current ran down my spine. My mind went blank, and my fist clenched on its own.

Three years ago, I had charged at that creature prepared to die.

I had gathered every last ounce of strength and unleashed One Annihilation—no, Stab with All My Strength. The spearhead had buried itself squarely in its eye.

That had been my final act of defiance, and the only mark I’d managed to leave on it.

It’s that bastard.

I didn’t stop to wonder how an ordinary Black Wyvern had become a Named Monster.

Every hair standing on end across my skin bore witness, and my pounding heart served as both prosecutor and judge.

Everything that made me who I was cried out with one voice.

The unidentified Named Monster Team Leader 1 had described was the very creature that had left me with an indelible nightmare three years ago.

We finally meet again.

I didn’t know what to call this feeling.

Fear? Joy?

My whole body trembled with an emotion I couldn’t name.

My senses were drawn tighter and sharper than ever when the thick scent of blood drifted into them.

—Kyaaaaaaaah!

I raised my head at the roar echoing from the distance.

On the horizon of the wasteland beneath the setting sun, a pair of pitch-black wings was flying toward us.

Goddammit. Goddammit. Goddammit!

The same curses kept replaying endlessly in Won Myunghoon’s mind.

His plan was as good as ruined. Now he even had to worry about getting out alive.

A Named Monster.

This was as serious as the situation eight years ago—no, it was even worse.

Won Myunghoon had hurried the Guild members through their preparations and was just about to order them to move out when—

“It’s coming.”

The low voice piercing his ears made his heart plummet.

All the more so because it belonged to Jin Taekyung.

“W-what do you mean?”

“Prepare for battle. Or run for your life.”

“I’m asking what the hell you mean!”

“What else could I mean?”

There was something unfamiliar about Jin Taekyung’s dark, steady gaze.

The man before Won Myunghoon now was neither his rabid fan nor the foolish kid in his twenties who had grinned at him like an idiot.

What is this feeling?

As Won Myunghoon flinched, a dry voice slipped between Jin Taekyung’s lips.

“Take everyone with you. I still have the necklace.”

“…What?”

What the hell was this bastard talking about?

As Won Myunghoon stared at him in confusion, one corner of Jin Taekyung’s mouth curled upward.

“Why are you so surprised? Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

“You—you bastard.”

“Myunghoon hyung¹. No, Mr. Won Myunghoon.”

Won Myunghoon froze. Not from humiliation, but from the crushing pressure bearing down on him.

A pressure unlike anything he had felt from Jin Taekyung before was pouring off him.

“Whatever you did or planned to do, I’ll let everything up to this point slide. But…”

Beneath the tangled hair falling over his face, his darkened eyes gleamed.

“Never bare your teeth at me again.”

“…!”

“I’m done. Get lost.”

Won Myunghoon’s lips moved, but no words came out.

He stared at Jin Taekyung with an unreadable look, then spun around.

He could feel the Peace Guild members’ gazes boring into the back of his head. Only now had they realized something had been going on.

Fucking idiots. How dare they…

But it didn’t matter.

Jin Taekyung and those ragtag Guild members would all be dead soon anyway.

A short while later, as Won Myunghoon and the Star Guild members ran with all their might, a roar echoed from far away.