Chapter 378

Ding.

System

Logout completed successfully.

With the cheerful System notification, the senses that had briefly fallen away began to return.

The softness of the bed against my back. The warm air inside the private jet.

And the hands gripping and shaking both my shoulders, along with someone’s shouting.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung! Wake up! Mr. Jin Taekyung!”

—Wake up, you wicked human!

At the two urgent voices drilling into my ears—no, the voices of one monster and one human—I blinked.

As my vision cleared, a familiar face came into view.

“Uh, Team Leader Choi…”

Smack!

“Wake up!”

—Well done, you slightly less wicked human!

“…”

What the hell?

Stunned by the completely unexpected slap, I answered in a daze.

“I’m awake…”

“What is wrong with you?! We’ve been trying to wake you up! Why are you only getting up now?!”

—Just die! Go ahead and die!

“S-Sorry…”

Talk about forceful. This was the first time I had ever seen Team Leader Choi this furious.

Lightning practically shot from the eyes of the man who stayed calm no matter what happened and spent his time showing off designer goods.

But what’s gotten into him? We’re still on the plane, aren’t we?

I had apologized reflexively, but I was still bewildered. Was this really enough to earn a slap?

Then—

“This is no time for this! Hurry—”

“Aaaah!”

The rest of Team Leader Choi’s words were drowned out by the flight attendants’ screams. Shouts from men I assumed were the pilots followed.

“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”

“Control tower! Control toweeer!”

“…What the fuck?”

What the hell was happening?

As I frantically looked around, Team Leader Choi dropped a bombshell.

“We’re under attack by monsters!”

“Monsters? An attack?”

What kind of bullshit was that? We were flying at twenty-five thousand feet in a private jet sent by China’s Central Committee.

By now, it wouldn’t have been strange to see our destination, Chengdu International Airport in Sichuan Province—

“Huh?”

I absentmindedly turned my head to look out the window, then stared with my mouth hanging open.

Far below, flames surged from the sprawling airport while dots of every size moved across the grounds.

It was a battle. Humans and monsters were fighting each other to the death.

And that wasn’t all.

—Kyaoo-o-o-o!

A gigantic monster was rapidly closing in on our private jet.

That’s…

There was no mistaking it. Even after rubbing my eyes and looking again, it was a Wyvern.

An A-rank monster classified as dragonkin alongside the Drake.

They were bastards I wouldn’t want to meet even on the ground, let alone at twenty-five thousand feet.

And there were more than ten of them!

…What kind of fucked-up situation is this?

A fierce battle raged around Chengdu International Airport below, while a pack of Wyverns pursued our private jet at twenty-five thousand feet.

It didn’t take my temporarily frozen brain long to reach a conclusion.

“Lich!”

The name burst from my mouth like lightning.

A week ago in the modern world, the apex undead monster had appeared alongside an unprecedented monster wave. It had undoubtedly extended its sinister reach all the way here.

“The control tower isn’t responding!”

“The Wyverns, the Wyverns…”

“Kyaaaah!”

—I knew this would happen! We’re all as good as dead!

Even in my panic, I corrected the Skeleton Warlord.

“That’s true, but weren’t you already dead?”

—Shut up, you wicked human! This is all your fault! Ahhh, my legion! Forgive your commander!

Human and monster alike, everyone was panicking. Screams and shouts erupted from every direction.

Only one person among them retained any semblance of sanity.

“Everyone, calm down! Nothing you’re worried about is going to happen!”

As expected of Team Leader Choi. Reliable as ever. He must have thought of a way out of this crisis.

After calming everyone with his steady voice, Team Leader Choi pointed at me.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung will handle it!”

“…”

“Mr. Jin Taekyung, what should we do?”

“Wait, why are you asking me…?”

“I believe in you, Mr. Jin Taekyung!”

“…”

That was exactly the problem. Why did he believe in me? In a situation like this, believing in God, Buddha, or Allah would probably do him more good.

For a moment, I lost my ability to speak. Then the gazes of everyone around me flew toward me and pierced into my body.

“N-Now that you mention it, I’ve heard about that Hunter. They say he’s so capable that even Comrade Chairman Xiao Yang made a special request for him.”

“I’ve heard the rumors too. They say he might be a new S-rank Hunter. Apparently, he defeated two Named Monsters all by himself.”

“Ooh! Ooooooh!”

“We’re saved! We’re going to live!”

—You, wicked human! I knew you were strong, but this is beyond anything I imagined! Rejoice, my legion. Your commander lives!

“…I already told you, you’re dead.”

This was driving me insane. None of them were in their right minds anymore.

I stared at Team Leader Choi in disbelief.

“What exactly are you basing this on?”

Team Leader Choi answered without hesitation.

“I already told you. I believe in you.”

“That’s what I’m asking. Where is this baseless faith coming from—”

“It isn’t baseless.”

“Excuse me?”

“The way you’re acting in a situation like this. Your tone. Your expression. All of it gives me reason to believe in you.”

“…!”

Only then did I realize the truth.

The unexpected situation had caught me off guard, but I wasn’t afraid. I didn’t feel the slightest trace of fear or dread.

The answer was closer than I had thought.

Because I’m strong.

I was strong. Stronger than before. Strong enough to avoid any danger.

That was why I wasn’t afraid of the monsters sweeping across the ground like a wave, or the pack of Wyverns closing in right behind us.

“So that’s what it is…”

I muttered under my breath, then spoke up.

“Who’s the captain?”

A hand suddenly shot up from the cockpit ahead.

It was trembling violently. The captain was probably using his other hand to clutch the controls for dear life and desperately evade the Wyverns bearing down on us.

“I-I am.”

“Can I open the door for a moment?”

“What?”

“I’m asking if I can open the plane door.”

The question must have shocked him senseless, because he poked his head out and stared at me like I was insane.

“Of course not! The pressure-sealing system won’t even let you open it, and the aircraft would be damaged by the pressure difference! You wouldn’t be able to breathe properly either!”

Team Leader Choi fiddled with the ring on his finger and cut in.

“I think I can block the pressure. I don’t know what you have in mind, but give it a try.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t! You bangzi bastards! Are you trying to kill us all?!”

“…What, bangzi?”¹

How dare he insult Koreans in front of a proud Korean Kimchi Man?

The captain’s face went pale when he realized what had slipped out.

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“You chink bastard. Damn it.”

“…!”

“Hey, Captain!”

“Y-Yes?”

“Should I open it?”

“Ah! Aah!”

Before the captain could stop me, I opened the door.

No—I cut it open.

Slice!

Force—the phenomenon known as an Aura Blade in the modern world—sliced through the sturdy alloy, creating a small opening.

It was the kind of overwhelming power only a Supreme Peak master could display in Murim, or an S-rank Hunter here.

Team Leader Choi’s eyes widened in shock.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung, this is…!”

“Team Leader!”

Whoooosh!

This was no time to stand around gawking. The tremendous wind and pressure had sent the aircraft lurching and thrown the cabin into chaos.

The passengers’ screams and my shout brought Team Leader Choi back to his senses. He rubbed his ring.

“A flawless barrier surrounds us. Barrier!”

“Oh.”

Along with the incantation, a transparent mana barrier blocked the new opening without leaving so much as a gap.

So that was one way to do it.

With a brief exclamation of admiration, I stuck my upper body outside the cabin.

Team Leader Choi’s Barrier spell recognized me as an ally and let me pass through without resistance.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The wind pressure battered my upper body as if trying to crush me to death. I grinned.

This is no joke.

But it wasn’t unbearable.

No, it would have been stranger if I couldn’t endure it. Compared to the waves of energy the Western Heaven Demon Lord had unleashed, this was no more than a gentle spring breeze.

—Kyaoo-o-o-o!

A monster’s shrill cry mingled with that spring breeze.

The pack of Wyverns had already drawn close. I judged the distance between us.

About a hundred meters.² I’ve never tried this before…but at this distance, it should be enough.

Inventory, open. Equip.

Sssshk.

A spear I’d bought at a discount from the Hunter Market slid into my hand.

Like a javelin thrower, I drew my shoulder as far back as it would go. From my waist to my wrist, every necessary muscle and tendon pulled taut like a bowstring.

—Kyaoo!

Sensing something was wrong, the leader Wyvern at the front shrieked and threw back its head.

I could see a mass of pure-white air being sucked toward its snout.

That’s…

—Breath! It’s using Breath! Dodge it, wicked human!

The Skeleton Warlord was right.

Of all the countless monsters in existence, Breath was a power granted only to the dragonkin. I could clearly see it taking shape inside the Wyvern’s gaping maw.

Gooooom.

A gigantic sphere of wind. The instant the Air Breath, powerful enough to shred metal like paper, fully took shape—

“Hey, Wyvern!”

—Kyaoo?

“I’m putting it in!”

With a thunderous shout, I whipped my drawn-back shoulder forward.

Fwoosh! Sssshaaa!

Flaming Force enveloped the spearhead, scorching the air and slicing through the wind.

The Wyvern’s bright-yellow eyes widened as the blue-white streak of light shot straight toward it.

—Kiiiiik!

Whoooosh!

Compressed air erupted from the spear’s tip. A pure-white cloud burst outward, and then—

Crunch! Boom-boom!

The gigantic body plummeted toward the ground like a kite with its string cut.

—Kyaoo?

—Kiiit?

More than ten pairs of bright-yellow eyes looked at one another.

Wyverns were ferocious from the moment they were born, but right now, they were so bewildered that they had no idea what to do.

—Kikik?

—Kiiik…

What? Is the boss dead?

I think so…

After exchanging words among themselves, the Wyverns were dumbfounded.

Their leader had been exceptional even among its own kind, powerful enough to earn the name “Black Star.”

And now, the Black Star had become a black dot plummeting toward the distant ground.

—Kiririk?

—Grrrrk.

None of them had even gotten a proper look at how it died.

They could only guess that the tiny human had thrown a spear and struck it.

But that was absurd.

How could a mere human dare to attack a descendant of the great dragon—

“Hey, Green Wyvern!”

—Kik?

“I’m putting it in!”

Crunch!

This time, they saw it clearly.

Their comrade’s head burst apart in the streak of light.

—Kik!

—Kyaoo-o-o!

After their leader, another of their bloodline had died!

The enraged Wyverns swore revenge on that accursed human.

—Kiiit!

Of course, not today.

They would take revenge later. A little later.

“Hey, Blue Wyvern!”

Crunch!

…Could they actually get their revenge?

More than ten pairs of wings began flapping for dear life.