Chapter 406

The age of the Great Cataclysm, which began with the descent of the Demon King Asmodeus, had been grim and chaotic. But humanity survived the crisis, swiftly repaired the damage, and built a civilization even more advanced than before.

Still, for some people, certain things mattered more than mana-stone elevators or healing potions.

“The internet got faster.”

The man who muttered those words in a reverent voice adjusted his glasses.

It was 11:30 a.m. Behind him, the ramen he had just dropped into the pot bubbled away, while cold rice and sour kimchi waited on the table.

Everything was ready. In exactly three minutes, he would add one—no, two—A-grade jumbo eggs he had agonized over buying during a supermarket sale. Then, after two more minutes, the perfect lunch would be complete.

And until then, the boredom would be solved by the marvelous modern civilization known as the smartphone.

“Let’s seeee, today’s news…”

Humming, the man skimmed the screen of his smartphone.

The main page of Hunter University, a massive online forum he frequented, had been updated with new top posts ranked by popularity.

1. [Victory report after victory report—is the monster army already as good as shattered? The UN Security Council issues an official statement: “Humanity is strong. But the war is not over yet. We must not let our guard down until the very end.”]

2. [The Miracle of Sichuan Province. Jin Taekyung stood at the center of it all.]

3. [National prestige rises by the day as a new hero is born. K-pop and kimchi sales skyrocket.]

4. [Scheduled Korea–US summit to proceed… President Doramp makes a startling statement at an official event: “Is this Jin Taekyung’s country? He’s my idol.”]

5. [Ares Guild continues its string of victories. Truly living up to its reputation.]

6. [Chinese Chairman Xiao Yang: “Every one of them is a hero.”]

7. [Maesaeng-i.com Translation: Overseas netizens react to the current situation. “Who the hell is this ‘Lady of the House’¹ Koreans keep killing every chance they get?”]

8. [Japanese Prime Minister Maigumi Shinjiro: “The Monster Wave must be handled in a Fun, Cool, and Sexy manner.” When a reporter asked what that meant, he grinned and replied, “Explaining it wouldn’t be sexy.”]

9. [Russian President Furin: “To me, Shinjiro is like quantum mechanics. No matter how much I look at him, I can’t understand him.”]

10. [Web-novel author becomes a prophet: exclusive interview with Zerobic. “How do I feel right now? I’m still stunned. Since we’re on the subject, I’ll be taking a break today.” During the interview, his enraged editor burst in and injured him badly enough to require twelve weeks of treatment, resulting in an unexpected hiatus. Though bleeding, Zerobic smiled and said he was happy to be able to rest. His editor, Mr. Lee, wept. “He isn’t human.”]

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.

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“Wow. This place is going absolutely nuts. Absolutely nuts.”

A smile tugged at the muttering man’s lips. No matter how far he scrolled, everything was about Jin Taekyung.

There seemed to be a few strange articles mixed in here and there, but simply reading them filled him with pride.

The comment section was already on the verge of exploding.

└ The activity here is insane lately. I’ve been on Hunter University since elementary school, but I’ve never seen it this heated before;; └ The truly insane one is Jin Taekyung. He carved through a monster army ten thousand strong all by himself. It still makes no sense when I think about it. How the hell did he do that? └ He’s amazing, but let’s get the facts straight. It wasn’t ten thousand, just a few thousand. └ LMAOOOO isn’t that still completely insane? └ For realㅋㅋㅋㅋ² You’re the kind of bastard who’d get a goblin’s poison stinger in the ass and yell, “Ow, please let go gently!” Aren’t you the same guy who used an aura blade with your keyboard last time?

└ But at this point, Jin Taekyung doesn’t seem like an ordinary S-rank Hunter. Are all the other S-rank Hunters like that too? └ Even during the Great Cataclysm, feats on this level were rare. Cheon Taemin doesn’t count because he was just on another level entirely… But if you look at the records from the Great Cataclysm, Lee Jungryong probably accomplished something similar too. └ Hmm. So he still isn’t at Lee Jungryong’s level? Disappointing. └ ?? Do you think Lee Jungryong is some old man hanging around a spring on the neighborhood hill? Cheon Taemin may have overshadowed him, but judging by his achievements, martial power, and influence, he’s still one of the top figures in the entire world. └ 222.³ You only have to look at what happened a week ago. He wiped out the monster army with the fewest casualties across all five fronts. Jin Taekyung is incredible, but Lee Jungryong and Ares Guild are fucking amazing too. The northern front is actually advancing a little faster right now. └ Comments like this make me nervous for no reason. I’m worried that a bunch of idiots will show up again and start going wild with the versus arguments. └ They’ve been IP-banned to hell, so it should be fine. But at this point, isn’t the whole incident basically over? They’re crushing the monsters with mobile warfare right now. └ Undefeated for an entire week ㄷㄷㄷ;⁴ └ The Arch Lich must be panicking too. He put everything into that surprise attack a week ago and still got completely wrecked. The Death Knight Lord is dead, and the survivors who ran away are being harvested right now. They’re screwed.

└ At this point, shouldn’t the Arch Lich be making a move? He’s so quiet that it feels strange. └ I had the same thought, so I sent him a KakaoTalk⁵ message yesterday to see how he was doing. └ ? To whom? └ The Arch Lich. He said he was busy with his promotion match. Apparently, he was excited because winning this game would get him to Gold. └ The guy above is fucking insane. └ Zerobic is even more insane. Why the hell is that bastard suddenly taking a break? You’re supposed to row while the tide is in. This is ridiculous. └ Stop talking bullshit. The important thing is that if things continue like this, we can suppress this Monster Wave without suffering any more major losses. Let’s pray that the situation ends soon and observe a moment of silence for the victims. └ Hmm… I don’t like China, but I agree with this. Idiots and normal people coexist in every country. Good luck to all the Hunters and soldiers. └ Fighting.

The netizens were generally in high spirits.

The Monster Wave, which had initially been taken with deadly seriousness, had now become fodder for national pride. Even in the comments mourning the dead and cheering on those fighting, there was hope instead of fear.

Then again, we have been hearing a lot of good news lately.

The man nodded. It was only natural. According to the battlefield reports from the UN Security Council, there was no doubt that the tide had already turned decisively.

A week ago, the surprise attack launched simultaneously against all five fronts had caused enormous damage. But reinforcements far exceeding the number of casualties had been dispatched, and victory after victory had followed.

At this rate, it might be over in a few days.

Their momentum was unstoppable, like splitting bamboo. The Western Front under Jin Taekyung and the northern front led by Lee Jungryong stood out the most.

The little punk. I was so worried about him at first, but he’s doing even better than I expected.

After a moment’s hesitation, the man logged into the site and left a comment.

└ Jin Taekyung’s Roommate: Is this really the same loser Jin Taekyung? The real Jin Taekyung is a legend. I used to eat ramen with him all the time back in the day, and now he’s become an S-rank Hunter, a king-like existence, and the world’s strongest legendary hero. Looking at Jin Taekyung now honestly brings tears to my eyes…

Replies began springing up like weeds the instant he posted it.

The man gazed down at his phone with a pleased expression.

Then Seong Jinho suddenly realized he had forgotten something important.

“No! My ramen!”

“Man, I could really go for some ramen.”

At my mutter, Team Leader Choi, who stood beside me, asked, “Out of nowhere?”

Having finished recovering, he had rejoined us at the front aboard a jet last night.

“Yeah. Weird, isn’t it?”

“Considering the situation, you seem even more impressive, Mr. Jin.”

Slash!

Hero’s Soul flashed through the air, slicing through both the Lizardman’s weapon and its body.

Green blood gushed out, accompanied by a stench that stabbed straight into my nose. My appetite vanished in an instant as I launched myself forward.

Fwoooosh! Boom!

Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist.

Terrible heat engulfed dozens of Lizardmen and burst into flames. The monsters recoiling at the sight already looked like routed soldiers.

Reading the flow of battle, Xiao Shen charged to the front and shouted.

“Charge! Charge!”

“Waaaaaah!”

“Blade of the wind, descend upon this place! Wind Cutter!”

Shwish-shwish-shwish-shwish!

Clang! Slash!

—Kueeeek!

—Kiruk, krk!

Overwhelmed by the human offensive pouring down like a wave, the monsters were helplessly driven back.

Their numbers were roughly even, but the monsters were no match for us in either morale or the quality of their forces.

Once the front line collapsed like a sandcastle, several terrified monsters turned and fled.

And collapse happens in an instant.

Fear was contagious.

When one fled, ten followed. After that came an uncontrollable rout.

Sure enough, my prediction proved correct, and cries of certain victory soon rang out.

“Pursue them! Don’t let a single one survive!”

“Get the speed buffs up!”

“Ranged units! Ready—fire!”

Shwish-shwish! Boom!

The Hunters, their momentum at its peak, began slaughtering the monsters fleeing without even maintaining formation.

It did not take long for the six-lane asphalt road, which would have been packed with cars only a month ago, to become buried beneath monster corpses.

“We won again.”

After the battle, I was checking my equipment when Team Leader Choi approached me. I shrugged.

“For someone delivering good news, you don’t look very happy.”

“That’s strange. I was just thinking the same thing while looking at you, Mr. Jin.”

“…Hmm.”

Apparently, we had been thinking along the same lines.

Just as he said, I felt no joy at all despite our victory.

I had first noticed this same sense of unease on the second day after we launched our mobile campaign for the full-scale counterattack.

“What do you think, Team Leader Choi?”

“What exactly are you asking about? The sharp decline in both the number and quality of the monsters? Or the dozens of victories you’ve won over the past week?”

“Both.”

“You’re probably thinking exactly what I am. The current state of the war is certainly encouraging, but… something doesn’t feel right.”

Team Leader Choi looked toward the celebrating people.

Smiles spread across exhausted faces, each one filled with the hope that the war would soon end and they could return to the arms of their loved ones.

“It’s not that I can’t understand how this happened. There were so many high-level monsters during the early stages of the war. If they lost their elite forces, it would explain the current situation. But…”

“The Arch Lich. That bastard wouldn’t make things this easy for us. Would he, Team Leader Choi?”

Team Leader Choi nodded slightly.

“Does command share our suspicions?”

“Probably. I don’t know about the other S-rank Hunters, but Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghu understood the situation perfectly.”

“That’s a relief, but…”

Team Leader Choi trailed off. Once again, he had probably arrived at the same thought I had.

We were practically at our destination, Suining City.

The Arch Lich had not shown himself even once throughout the entire war. What the hell was he doing right now?

“Hmm. He should be greasing his bones about now. Becoming a magnificent undead requires proper maintenance, you know.”

“…”

Shut up already.

Whoooosh.

A vast space.

The darkness swirling within it was drawn toward a single point.

As the pitch-black darkness vanished, the light of the setting sun streamed through shattered windows and fell upon a solitary being.

“Come, Adversary.”

The voice was as cold as the winter wind.

Having gathered his magical power, the Arch Lich’s eyes gleamed.