Chapter 271

Shhk!

The Iron Golem’s impossibly sturdy body was sliced apart like soft tofu.

Even steel imbued with mana couldn’t withstand Scorching Yang Qi.

Everywhere the spearhead cut and pierced, trails of fire appeared, and molten metal dripped to the ground.

Ding. Ding.

System

• You defeated the Level 95 Iron Golem!
• You gained a considerable amount of EXP!
• You defeated the Level 95 Iron Golem!
• You gained a considerable amount of EXP…

“Why is it so weak?”

I was bewildered by my own strength.

Iron Golems were difficult monsters. No, they were extremely difficult monsters. They couldn’t be killed unless their cores were destroyed, and their destructive power and durability were both tremendous.

Regeneration that surpasses a Troll’s, destructive power that rivals an ogre’s.

They also had inexhaustible Stamina and resistance to magic.

Their only flaw was that they were somewhat slow, but when I considered all their other advantages one by one, could that really even be called a flaw?

There was a reason they were regarded as some of the strongest among A-rank Golems. And yet…

Why is this so easy?

Fwoooosh!

The wind pressure tossed my hair around. An Iron Golem’s fist came crashing down toward the crown of my head.

A scream erupted from among the rookie Guild members.

“Look out!”

That rookie needed some training. If a teammate looked like they were in danger, they should have picked up a rock lying nearby and at least tried to distract the enemy. What were they doing?

Well, he is a rookie.

I clicked my tongue and clenched my fist.

In the instant that remained after splitting a second in half and then splitting it again, decades of internal energy raced down my arm.

Scorching Yang Qi transformed into blue flames and gathered around my fist.

And then…

Clang!

I thrust my fist forward.

Fist against fist. Iron Fist against the Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist.

The ground sank with a metallic clang, and compressed air exploded outward. Through the swirling wind, I saw the Iron Golem stagger backward.

Only a few seconds earlier, its sturdy arm had gleamed brightly. Now, it was melting into molten metal and dripping away as though it had been swallowed by a fire dragon.

—Grill?

Iron Golems were magical puppets without emotions.

And yet, at that moment, I thought I could read bewilderment in the creature.

“Yeah. Of course I am.”

I kicked off the ground and shot upward.

The Iron Golem’s steel-colored chest came into view. And then I sensed it.

Deep inside its enormous body, which contained not even a trace of qi, something pulsed as it released mana.

The Golem’s core.

“This Hunter offers free grilling.”

I slapped its chest with my fully spread palm. The cool metal was consumed by the heat of the Flame Divine Palm.

Hisssss!

Molten metal splattered, and a large hole opened in the Golem’s chest. The core supplying its mana cracked apart without resistance.

—Grrrrr…

Rumble!

The enormous body, deprived of its core, lost all its strength. It broke into pieces and collapsed.

Just as a person whose heart had burst could no longer breathe, the same was true of an Iron Golem.

I landed lightly atop the heap of metal that had piled up like a small hill.

“All right. Next.”

—Griiiill!

With a roar like the grinding of machinery, waves of gleaming steel rushed toward me from every direction.

I wonder if I’ll level up at least once after killing all of these.

With rising anticipation, I swung my spear.

The Fire Dragon Divine Spear, which had reached the seventh stage, burned through the air and sound as it carved a path of fire.

Fwoooosh!

Rumble!

The final Iron Golem crumbled with a deafening boom.

It had taken only a few minutes to deal with more than ten A-rank monsters.

When I looked around, everyone was staring at me with astonished expressions.

“This is insane…”

“Did you see that? Did you just see that?”

“Yes. I saw it.”

“Wow, he was playing with an A-rank monster. I couldn’t even see him move.”

“I told you I saw it.”

A voice rang out above the murmuring rookie Guild members.

“Is the raid over already? After combat, clean up the remains and guard the surrounding area. Guild Master and Miss Song, please take charge.”

The words were polite, but the tone was no different from a whip.

Team Leader Choi landed lightly, and the rookies flinched before scattering in a hurry to find something to do.

He really does have charisma sometimes.

Was it his unique aura? Something like that had to be innate.

As I was thinking this, Team Leader Choi approached me and spoke with a stern expression.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung. I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but I can’t hold back any longer.”

“Yes.”

“Where did you buy that spear?”

“…”

Right. He had always been this kind of person. I had forgotten for a moment.

Whether or not he knew what I was thinking, Team Leader Choi’s gaze remained fixed on the spear in my hand, White Flame.

“It’s like looking at a work of art. A classical yet beautiful Chinese-style design. Don’t tell me it’s made from Magic Gem?”

No. It’s made from Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.

Of course, telling him the truth would only cause trouble, so I gave him a vague answer.

“I couldn’t say. I don’t know much about it myself.”

Team Leader Choi ran his greedy gaze up and down the spear.

“If you don’t mind my asking, would you perhaps consider selling it to me…?”

“No. I’m not selling it.”

Even if I wanted to sell it, I couldn’t. It was a bound item that only I could use. The Item information said so, too.

Perhaps for that reason, it was the only object in my two separate inventories—the ones divided between Murim and the modern world—that could travel between the two worlds.

“Ah…”

Team Leader Choi smacked his lips in disappointment before changing the subject.

“Regardless, I’m truly amazed. You keep getting stronger.”

I answered half-jokingly and half-seriously.

“All it takes is training like hell for a year under a Supreme Peak master with dementia.”

“Dementia? What did you say?”

“A Supreme Peak master.”

“Isn’t that a term from wuxia novels? Peak master, Supreme Peak master.”

“That’s right. I’m thinking of writing a novel as a hobby after I retire. Something like Login Murim.”

“That title isn’t very good. It won’t be a hit.”

“I’m not actually planning to write it.”

Team Leader Choi let out a short laugh before speaking.

“I know I say this every time, but whenever I look at you, Mr. Jin Taekyung, I sometimes have a thought.”

“What kind of thought?”

“Whether you and I are really the same kind of person.”

His light brown eyes seemed to grow hot and reddish.

“A perennial F-rank Hunter becoming this powerful in only a few months? If I hadn’t seen you myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

It was a reasonable suspicion.

Second-awakened Hunters were uncommon, but there weren’t so few of them that they could be called exceedingly rare.

In my case, however, I had reached a realm far beyond an ordinary second awakening.

And Team Leader Choi had watched my transformation from closer than anyone else.

Other people might be fooled, but not Team Leader Choi.

To him, I was no different from a second-, third-, or fourth-awakened Hunter.

I licked my dry lips.

This was a secret I had to keep to myself until the day I died.

If it ever leaked, I might be dragged off by the NIS—or no, NASA—and forced to live as a test subject for the rest of my life.

“Team Leader. I’m sorry, but that’s…”

Team Leader Choi shook his head slightly and cut me off.

“I know. I understand that you have secrets you can’t even tell me. In a way, I’m in a similar position, so I have no intention of pressing you.”

Similar position?

Before the question could fully take shape in my mind, he continued.

“A second-awakened Hunter unlike anything ever seen before. That should be enough, shouldn’t it? Butler Kim feels the same way I do.”

Song Song and Im Kkeokjeong had joined later, but Butler Kim had watched my growth from Team Leader Choi’s side.

News articles were already pouring out under headlines like The F-Rank Hunter’s Rebellion and A Miracle. If the two of them kept their mouths shut, I could probably bring things to an end here.

I dipped my head.

“Thank you. I owe you one.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“But may I ask you one thing?”

“Anything.”

“Why are you going this far for me?”

“Oh, that?”

Team Leader Choi let out an airy laugh.

“You just said it yourself. You owe me.”

“I did.”

“I intend to collect that debt in full—with interest.”

“…?”

“That’s all you need to know. For now.”

Team Leader Choi turned to leave, then stopped.

“That novel you mentioned earlier—if you ever write it, let me read it. I like reading novels more than you might think.”

“Then you won’t be able to read mine.”

“Why not?”

Because if I ever write it, it won’t be a novel you enjoy. It’ll be an essay based on my experiences.

Team Leader Choi tilted his head at my silent smile.

The workshop—or rather, the raid—that had been scheduled to last six nights and seven days came to an end after only three days.

I had gone around by myself and beaten down every monster that caught my eye, leaving nothing else to hunt.

“It was supposed to be a raid for team bonding, but somehow it turned out like this.”

I subtly avoided Song Song’s incredulous gaze.

It wasn’t enough that I had wiped out all the Golems inside the Gate. I had even soloed the boss monster.

That EXP was so sweet.

“Ahem.”

“The rookies need to gain raid experience, too. Why are you so desperate to jump in every time you see a monster?”

“Come on, it all worked out. Let it go.”

“Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

“Come on, Miss Song. Let it go.”

“And if I just can’t let it go?”

“I’ll punish you with a confession.”

“…”

Song Song pressed her lips shut and slowly backed away with a frightened expression.

I achieved my goal, so why do I feel like I might cry?

Hah. I loved you…

I trudged away like the tragic male lead in a romance.

When I exited the dungeon, the reporters who had been camped outside the Gate fired their camera flashes all at once.

Although I had spent an entire year in Murim, only a few days had passed in the modern world.

It would take more time for the interest and fervor surrounding me to die down.

“Please step back, reporters!”

“Only authorized personnel may enter beyond this point!”

Only after the guards rushed in and blocked off the press could I escape the barrage of flashes.

Once the shutter sounds finally stopped, the rookie Guild members, their faces flushed with excitement, shouted loudly.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Their eyes all shone brightly. They were filled with admiration and respect as they looked at us.

Though, of course, most of that attention was focused on me.

Feeling awkward, I turned my head toward the founding members. That was when I realized someone was missing.

“Where’s Uncle Kkeokjeong?”

“Huh? Now that you mention it, he’s not here.”

Team Leader Choi answered.

“He told me privately on the way here, then slipped away. Apparently something came up.”

“What could be so urgent that he left without even changing out of his gear?”

“It must be urgent if he left like that.”

What was going on? Had something happened at home?

A strange unease settled in one corner of my mind.

Come to think of it, I didn’t get to talk with him much after returning.

I had spent most of the raid moving alone, so I hadn’t had many conversations with the others.

Looking back, Im Kkeokjeong’s expression had seemed a little dark. At the time, I had thought he was simply nervous, but…

Did something really serious happen?

Even after I changed out of my gear and everyone went their separate ways, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I debated for a long time whether to call him, but in the end, I sent a quick message to the number saved in my contacts. It simply said that we should grab a drink together soon.

He must have had his own troubles, and prying unnecessarily might be rude.

That should be enough.

I was gazing absently at the stubborn number 1 that refused to disappear when—

Bzzzzt.

My smartphone vibrated. A phone icon appeared on the screen, along with the saved name.

It was a name I had saved several months ago and completely forgotten about.

Garam Middle School Classmate Park Jihoon

He was someone I had happened to run into the day I went to buy a house, and we hadn’t spoken once since.

What could he want?

With mild curiosity, I answered the call.