Chapter 45

Slash.

The red eyes blinked, almost docile. So even a C-rank Rare Monster—the terrifying Hobgoblin Great Warrior—could make a face like that.

Why hadn’t I noticed before?

With that passing thought, I shook the blood from my spearhead. At the same moment—

Thud.

Something heavy hit the ground. The Great Warrior saw what it was and instinctively shuffled backward.

Well, fair enough. Its right arm had been severed cleanly below the elbow.

I thought you’d be a little different.

The Jin Family’s Manoeuvre Technique. Yeah, I’d used it to slip inside the creature’s reach. The Great Warrior reflexively swung its right arm, but there was nothing left to swing.

“Forgot already?”

I pressed the spearhead against the Great Warrior’s side and ripped it upward. The blade, charged with internal energy, split its tough hide and muscle.

Slash—

Its left arm fell away in a spray of green blood.

Both arms gone in an instant, the Hobgoblin Great Warrior let out a roar of rage and pain.

—Kuwaaaaaargh!

But I couldn’t let my guard down. Even without arms, it was still more than dangerous enough with its body alone.

“Yeah. Come at me.”

Before I’d even finished speaking, its massive frame charged.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As expected, this thing’s entire body was a weapon. Like the monster it was, it possessed primal senses and strength that far surpassed a human’s.

Swish. Slash.

A hooked claw grazed my forearm. A chunk of flesh tore away, and blood poured out. Without flinching, I blocked the heel descending toward the crown of my head.

Thud. Crunch.

The ground beneath my feet began to sink.

Incredible strength. At this rate, I might be buried standing up.

If I didn’t have internal energy, that is.

I drew up every last bit of internal energy in my dantian. Power flooded through every limb. As my spear shaft slowly rose, the Great Warrior’s eyes wavered.

Too late.

It might have been different if the creature had been whole, but after losing both arms, the Hobgoblin Great Warrior was no longer a match for me.

—Grrr.

In the end, it was the first to back off. By then, the fight was as good as over.

I pressed forward and thrust my spear.

Jin Family’s Spear Technique. First form.

The movements engraved into my body and mind unfolded in rapid succession.

Thrust. Cut. Block and strike with the shaft. Simple on their own, but the order and the angles made countless combinations.

That was my definition of martial arts.

Clang! Clang!

Swish. Swish-swish-swish!

Second form. Third form. Fourth…

The hooked claws, once as hard as steel, were sliced away. With every step the creature retreated, another wound opened and more blood spilled.

Before long, the Hobgoblin Great Warrior’s back struck the wall.

“Grrrk…”

A C-rank Rare Monster. A creature that had once seemed impossible to fight. But the will to resist had long since vanished from its red eyes.

“Time to go.”

Shunk.

Ghk. With a final death rattle, the hulking green body slid down the wall.

And then—

Ding.

System

You have defeated Lv. 45 Hobgoblin Great Warrior!

Level Up!

The System notification rang out. I’d thought I would never hear or see one again…

The System, out of nowhere?

But I wasn’t the only one confused.

“…Mr. Jin Taekyung?”

Team Leader Choi had already dealt with the Priest. His pupils shook as if an earthquake had struck while he looked back and forth between me and the Great Warrior’s corpse.

“What… are you?”

Good question. I wanted to know too.

Heh heh. Heh heh heh.

“A Rare Monster?”

The cigarette dropped from the government official’s mouth.

He looked like a born civil servant, so this couldn’t have been welcome news. Sure enough, his gaze darted anxiously over us.

“W-what rank?”

Team Leader Choi wearily shook the Priest’s staff.

Clank.

“C-rank Rare. Hobgoblin Priest.”

“C-rank?! For fuck’s—”

Hey, save the swearing. There’s one more.

I kicked the Hobgoblin Great Warrior’s greatsword, which I’d been using as a walking stick. The official turned at the dull clang.

“And that?”

“Buy one, get one more. C-rank Rare. Hobgoblin Great Warrior.”

“Two mid-grade Rare Monsters? In an E-rank Gate?”

I got the reaction. This had to at least make some kind of sense.

The official spent a while looking back and forth between us and the equipment before finally nodding with a miserable expression.

“I’ll contact my superiors first.”

“Hey, mister. Hold on.”

Im Kkeokjeong had regained consciousness at some point. I was supporting him, and he’d suffered severe injuries, including at least five broken bones.

“Call a healer. A pretty unnie.¹”

The E-rank trio dropped onto the ground as well.

“And potions! Potions! Give us the good stuff!”

“For fuck’s sake, how did you people even manage this Gate?!”

“All our gear’s smashed too! Huh? What are you going to do about this?!”

What did they think he was going to do? The government would compensate them for everything.

There was an actual law requiring it to cover every item consumed inside the Gate, along with medical expenses and compensation.

In other words, this was all a show to squeeze out a little more.

Tsk, tsk. Even so, people are watching.

That was when I felt a piercing stare from beside me.

“…Mr. Taekyung.”

It was Team Leader Choi.

“What are you doing?”

He stared at me in confusion. More precisely, at the hand holding my dagger.

Grrrk.

The dagger, charged with internal energy, carved long gashes through my seven-year-old leather armor until it was too badly damaged to use.

“…”

“…”

“Team Leader Choi.”

I heaved a sigh deep enough to sink the ground.

“That Hobgoblin Great Warrior was incredibly strong. I escaped with my life, but every piece of equipment I owned was destroyed.”

“…”

“The armor that protected me for seven years. Now even my spear…”

“The spear looks perfectly—”

At that moment, I planted one foot on the middle of the spear and slowly pressed down.

Before the majesty of my three-digit Strength stat, the iron spear bent like taffy.

“Looks perfectly fine? This?”

“…”

Team Leader Choi shut his mouth.

Team Leader Choi was called away by the officials dispatched to take charge, and the other four were moved to an ambulance for treatment.

Instead of the musty break room, I was left alone in a spacious, comfortable office. Now that the moment had finally arrived, my heart began to pound.

St-Status Window?

At that half-doubtful call, the System answered.

Ding.

System

Status Window

Lv. 33 Jin Taekyung

Job: First Rate Martial Artist

Fame: 0

Titles: 2 (Title effects active)

• Novice Trainee (Training speed +10%)
• Gambler (Combat-related stats +10% in one-on-one matches)

Strength: 120  Stamina: 125

Agility: 121  Intelligence: 20

Charm: 20  Internal Energy: 15 years

Remaining Points: 30

Synchronization is complete. Titles and Fame have changed.

“Fuck. It really appeared.”

I stared blankly at the Status Window for a moment before noticing something strange.

The Status Window… changed?

Two things jumped out first: my Fame had been reset to zero, and a Title was missing. The final line gave me a rough idea why.

Because this isn’t Murim?

All five hundred Fame I’d accumulated had been earned as a martial artist in Murim. The missing Title, Scion of a Prestigious Family, made sense for the same reason.

Well, I’m not the son of some prestigious family here. And I’m sure as hell no Hidden Dragon.

If I earned a Title here, it would probably be something like Scion of the Common Folk. Or Earthworm instead of Hidden Dragon.

“How much else changed?”

For about ten minutes I turned every System function on and off and tested them. The only thing that had changed was the Status Window.

No. There was one more.

The Quest Window.

Ding.

System

Quest

Traitor

You have discovered the traitor’s identity. Rejoin the main force, warn them of the traitor, and lead the battle to victory!

Grade: Peak

Restriction: Jin Taekyung

Mission: Eliminate the traitor (Incomplete)

Win the battle (Incomplete)

Reward: Vast EXP and Fame

Valuable iron chest

Failure: Death

It was the Chain Quest I’d received after defeating Gwak Jun and the assassins. My thoughts grew tangled.

Does it want me to go back? To Murim?

I knew now. The Murim I’d experienced wasn’t an illusion or a game. As wildly unrealistic as it sounded, Murim was probably…

Creak.

I turned at the sudden sound. Team Leader Choi stood in the doorway.

“Let’s go, Mr. Taekyung.”

It seemed the discussion had wrapped up. I put the thought aside and rose.

“The others…?”

“They should be on their way to the hospital by now. They’ll need to stay there for about a week. You don’t need to worry.”

I wasn’t particularly worried. Combat-type Hunters had sturdy bodies, and they’d received potions and healing magic. They would be back on their feet soon enough.

And…

“How did it go?”

“They’ll contact us again within a few days. An investigator will probably visit you as well.”

An investigator.

Not the sort of person I ever wanted to deal with again. But that wasn’t the answer I wanted, so I asked once more.

“What about the other matter?”

“Hmm.”

Team Leader Choi regarded me with a strange expression, like he was examining some fascinating animal.

Did he tell them the truth?

I didn’t want my strength exposed. Especially not now, when I still had no idea why the System had appeared in reality or how any of this was connected to Murim.

An F-rank Hunter single-handedly killing a C-rank Rare Monster was unprecedented. A needle in a bag would eventually poke through, but I’d spent my whole life being the opposite of that—never standing out at all. I couldn’t help being cautious.

So I had asked him:

“Could you keep what concerns me a secret?”

It must have been a difficult request from Team Leader Choi’s perspective. I was asking him to give a false statement for someone he’d only just met.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

“Yes.”

His grave voice made my heart sink.

Then he said, “Let’s get something to eat.”

“What?”

“Look.”

Team Leader Choi held out his wrist. A gleaming Magic Gem digital watch showed two in the afternoon.

“It’s an N Company model carved from a solid C-rank Magic Gem. It’s enchanted with reinforcement magic, so in an emergency, you can even use it as a shield—”

So that’s what he meant.

“…Let’s go.”

The man was impossible to read.

“Let’s get some meat. Do you like Hanwoo?²”

“Hanwoo?”

“Yes. Highest grade.”

And he was rich too.

“I never get to eat it.”

This wasn’t just any beef. It was Hanwoo. Top-grade Hanwoo, at that.

System or whatever—first, I needed to fill my empty stomach.