Chapter 220

Won Myunghoon left. Remembering how he had ground his teeth at my attitude yet hadn’t dared attack drew a quiet laugh from me.

If he had, I would’ve made him regret it.

He was a hyena of a man.

Show him weakness, and he bared his teeth. Show him strength, and he hid them.

Judging by everything I had seen of him, his nature probably had something to do with the incident eight years ago as well.

Consider yourself lucky.

No matter how much a hyena leaped or crawled, it was still a beast.

If it knew when to tuck its tail, all I had to do was scare it off.

I had neither reason nor desire to bloody my hands before it actually sank its teeth into my shoulder—especially when I was about to face a real monster.

—Kyaaaaaaaah!

The black dot drew closer.

A rage-filled roar echoed from the far edge of the horizon.

Just as I had recognized it, it had recognized me.

Yes. You remember me too.

That was enough. I was about to face a half-mad Named Monster, but I felt neither fear nor excitement.

Only one thing bothered me, like a thorn caught in my throat.

“Why didn’t you leave?”

Team Leader Choi stared at me with his arms loosely folded.

Instead of answering, he asked a question of his own.

“Who are you asking?”

“All of you.”

I swept my gaze around. Four people stood against the endless wasteland, with rocks and trees scattered here and there behind them.

Team Leader Choi and Butler Kim. Im Kkeokjeong and Song Song.

Not one of them had left.

“You all know that thing coming toward us is a Named Monster, right?”

“We’re all well aware.”

“Then this should be simple. It’s dangerous, so leave while you still can.”

“Where would we retreat to?”

“Where else? Back to the exit we came through.”

“The Star Guild isn’t exactly an ideal group to flee with—especially after making an enemy of their Guild Master.”

I don’t see it that way.

No one knew it yet, but Butler Kim was an A-Rank mage—and one who had lived through the unprecedented war known as the Great Cataclysm.

The Star Guild might have had the advantage in numbers, but even without me, the others wouldn’t be outmatched if they fought Won Myunghoon’s Guild right now.

“That’s a convenient excuse.”

Team Leader Choi stared at me as I smiled.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

“No.”

I cut him off before he could begin, but Team Leader Choi wasn’t the sort to back down quietly.

“Since you’ve left me stuck here with nowhere to go, I think I’ve earned the right to ask a few questions.”

Damn. He has a point.

I answered reluctantly.

“Fine…but keep it short.”

“That monster coming toward us—is it connected to what happened three years ago?”

I hesitated, then nodded.

“You have no intention of retreating.”

“…”

My silence was answer enough.

Team Leader Choi let out a low sigh.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung, you’re facing a Named Monster.”

“That’s news to me. All I see is something I need to kill.”

“You need to think about this rationally.”

“Do I look that unstable right now?”

“That…”

Team Leader Choi fell silent.

I was calmer than I had ever been. My heart might have been hammering like mad, but my mind was running through countless ways to deal with the creature.

“Team Leader Choi.”

“…?”

“I’ve told you my motto in life a few times before, haven’t I?”

Im Kkeokjeong, who had been watching in silence, answered for him.

“Thin and long.”

“You remember too, Uncle?”

“You were a strange kid. Most young men dream big at least once…but you never did.”

“I’ve never been fond of a turbulent life.”

This time, Butler Kim answered with a smile.

“For someone who feels that way, you seem to have come quite far.”

“That’s why I changed it.”

“Big and long. Is that right?”

“Yes. It’s already too late for me to live small. Since things have turned out this way, I’m going to live as big and as long as I can.”

“Good. If you wish, perhaps…”

I knew what he was about to say.

I quietly shook my head. Butler Kim had a far more important task to handle.

“I’m fine. Protect the others.”

“Understood. Even without being asked, I’ll do what must be done to the best of my ability.”

At Butler Kim’s clear-cut answer, Song Song asked with an incredulous expression,

“You’re going to let him fight a Named Monster alone? Are you all out of your minds? One wrong move and we’ll all die. Every last one of us!”

“Then why haven’t you left, Miss Song?”

“…Good question. Why am I still here?”

I watched her sink into thought, then spoke.

“Miss Song.”

“No.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Hunter Jin Taekyung. Please.”

What was with these reactions?

I had barely gotten her name out, yet Song Song, Team Leader Choi, and Butler Kim had all shut me down without hesitation.

“Taekyung, go for it.”

At least Kkeokjeong hyung¹ was on my side.

I looked at the other three with an aggrieved expression.

“I haven’t even said anything yet.”

Song Song answered,

“That’s why I’m saying no.”

“How do you know what I was going to say?”

“Hmm. A confession?”

My head went numb for a moment.

The back of my skull throbbed as though someone had hit it with a hammer.

“Wait. How did you know?”

“Good grief. How could I not know?”

“W-was it that obvious?”

“Yes. Painfully.”

“Then…”

She shook her head without hesitation.

“I’m sorry. I’m not the sort of person who changes her attitude at the drop of a hat just because someone has money or fame.”

“Oh.”

“To be honest, you’re quite a catch, Mr. Taekyung. But when I like someone, I’m the type to reel him in all at once. I can’t keep a whole pond stocked with men.”

After letting everything out in one breath, she blinked.

“Oh. I wasn’t too harsh on someone who’s about to fight a Named Monster, was I?”

I had been opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish, but a quiet laugh soon escaped me.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No reason. I was just thinking how refreshingly straightforward you are.”

She narrowed her eyes at my answer.

“Hold on. Why are you suddenly speaking casually?”

“You said you’re twenty-seven, right? We’re the same age. We can at least be friends, can’t we?”

“Hmm. There’s no such thing as friendship between a man and a woman.”

“We can worry about that if the time comes.”

When Song Song still hesitated, I added,

“We’re guildmates, after all.”

“…When you put it that way, I can’t exactly refuse.”

I grinned at her.

In the end, I had been rejected cleanly, but I didn’t regret it in the slightest. If anything, I felt strangely calm.

If someone saw me like this and asked whether I had really liked Song Song, the answer was yes. There was no question about that.

But even I couldn’t say for certain what I felt now.

I had simply said what I had kept buried in my heart for so long, and regardless of her answer, I felt relieved.

Maybe that was enough for now.

“Let’s have some soju² when this is over.”

“My family motto says boys and girls over seven shouldn’t sit together.”

“I meant all of us.”

“…Oh. Right.”

I turned away with a light step.

At that moment, I sensed an enormous flow of mana behind me. I didn’t need to look to know that Butler Kim was layering magical barriers around the others.

I’m counting on you.

It meant the battle was close at hand. Sure enough, the creature that had been no more than a tiny dot was now close enough for even an ordinary person to see clearly.

“Bastard, you’ve gotten big.”

Its body was easily over fifty meters³ long, and its wings were larger still.

Black scales covered every inch of it, gleaming in the light of the setting sun.

It had grown at least two or three times larger than when I had last seen it three years ago.

Was that even possible?

I had never heard of anything like it.

But there was no mistaking the creature. Its clouded eye was proof.

Its remaining eye, stained crimson, stared directly at me.

—Kraaaaaaaah!

Whoooosh!

A single roar sent a tremendous gust crashing over the wasteland. Dirt and pebbles flew into the air, filling it with a thick cloud of dust.

When the curtain of dust settled, a massive silhouette stood atop a nearby hill.

It’s huge.

And strong.

With my senses stretched wide, I could feel its rage and power.

It was a monster that had broken free of the bounds of A-Rank.

It possessed the majesty befitting a Named Monster.

“So we finally meet.”

Now that I stood face-to-face with it, my chest trembled. Three years ago, I had lost my comrades, and it had lost one eye.

It had been a long, bitter grudge.

Now it was time to end it.

I tightened my grip on the cold spear shaft and slowly walked toward the creature.

“Long time no see. Remember me?”

Wyverns were unquestionably advanced creatures.

It had been cunning and cruel even then. Now that it had become a Named Monster, it naturally possessed even greater strength and Intelligence.

—Grrrrr…

“Looks like you do. So, how’s the eye?”

A crimson flame blazed in its remaining eye. I let out a quiet laugh as the scales across its body bristled.

“You fucking bastard. Who the hell do you think you’re hissing at?”

—Grrrk!

One step.

Then another.

My heart pounded while my mind spun at full speed. Hundreds of ways to carve apart its body and snuff out its life unfolded before my eyes.

“There were some names I wanted you to hear if I ever saw you again. Open your ears and listen carefully.”

Step.

Step.

As the distance between us narrowed, something hot surged from my lower abdomen.

It was like a small sun—the Scorching Yang Qi that had surpassed one jiazi⁴, and the rage that had built and built until it became something solid.

“Kim Hyunsu.”

The face of a straight-laced kid in horn-rimmed glasses appeared before my eyes.

He had been a Hunter for only four months. He was the first to die. One sweep of the creature’s tail had crushed his entire body.

He had been clumsy, but he never lacked enthusiasm. Whenever he had a spare moment, he would come find me with another question.

Deputy Team Leader. How do I do this?

Deputy Team Leader. I don’t understand this part.

Deputy Team Leader…

Sometimes, I thought about him.

I wondered whether he might have survived if I had explained things more thoroughly, if I hadn’t been annoyed by the kid who came to me with dozens of questions every day.

But regret always came too late. Kim Hyunsu had remained twenty forever, and his parents had wailed throughout the funeral for the only son they had lost.

Maybe they still are, even three years later.

There were nine more people like him.

Every one of them had a family and dreams of their own.

“Lee Hyerim. Song Donghyeok, Park Sangho, Kim Haneung, Park Gwanghyeon…”

With every name, I took another step. With every step, memories of that person shimmered before me like heat haze.

That was why my vision blurred.

At least, that was what I chose to believe.

After ten steps, only one name remained.

“…And Hong Cheonsu.”

The round face of a man in his thirties flashed before my eyes.

When I first met him, I was a rookie Hunter barely twenty years old, while he was a ten-year veteran.

After he saved me from being surrounded and nearly killed by goblins, I started calling him hyung¹.

One perfectly ordinary day, I had suddenly asked him,

Why are you always so good to me?

He had answered,

It kept eating at me, seeing a kid like you struggle. My youngest sibling is about your age.

It wasn’t until the day of his funeral that I learned he had grown up in an orphanage and didn’t have a single relative.

The absurdity of it made me laugh.

In the end, though, I cried.

Because I remembered his final words.

You cocky bastard. Taekyung, go on ahead.

That was how he—Cheonsu hyung¹—died.

Leaving behind a wonderful spouse and three children.

And now, at this very moment, I stood before the creature. I glared into its enormous red eye and opened my mouth.

“Listen carefully, you fucking lizard bastard.”

I had survived countless crises to say these words.

After three years and ninety-two days, I was finally ready to tear off those wings and drive my spear into its heart.

“This time, I’m not going anywhere.”

Internal energy erupted from my dantian and surged through every limb and bone in my body.

The Scorching Yang Qi raced unchecked toward the cold spearhead. The internal energy flowed in an unbroken stream, tangling like a skein of thread before transforming into something new.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

Aura. Spear Energy.

It didn’t matter what I called it. I leveled the blue-burning spearhead at the creature.

“You’re…dead today.”