Chapter 778

Because you’re my friend, too.

At those quiet words, the Skeleton King’s eyes trembled. I looked straight at him and continued.

That’s all there is to it. You’re my friend, too. If I lost you like this, I’d feel like shit for the rest of my life. That’s why I can’t give up.

……

Remember when we fought the Arch Lich in China?

The Skeleton King nodded silently.

Yeah. How could I forget?

That fierce battle was still etched vividly in my mind.

I really thought I was going to die. No—if things had kept going the way they were, I’d probably have died nine times out of ten.

It had been that hard a fight.

Countless monsters had blocked our path. And the Arch Lich we’d finally faced after killing Lee Jungryong and Wu Heixing, who had chosen to betray us, had been too much for me at the time.

But…

You saved me. Even knowing you might be erased.

I could still see him leaping out of my Inventory without even asking permission and taking the Arch Lich’s strike in my place at that life-or-death moment.

It was a sacrifice.

A pure, noble sacrifice.

At the same time, it was a great deed that allowed an ordinary someone to finally become a new being.

And so the Skeleton Warlord who had ruled the Black Forest gained a crown.

He returned from the brink of Erasure, took up the radiant [Hero’s Sword], and drove it into the Arch Lich’s chest.

Why did you make that choice back then?

……Who knows. I don’t.

The Skeleton King turned his gaze to empty space and muttered.

All I know is that I had a very stupid, very trivial reason.

A reason?

There was something I’d always wondered. Who am I? Where was I born, and what sin did I commit to become the monster I am now? Surely I wasn’t always like this.

His hollow thoughts echoed in my ears.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember my life before this. Even while living among humans, I was confused every moment I spent with them. I felt like something that was neither monster nor human. As though I were serving an endless sentence for a sin I’d committed in the past.

Yeah. Back then, that was how the Skeleton King had been.

He was always lost in thought, looking troubled. Sometimes he’d go into my Inventory and not say a word for days.

Then one day, I’d said something to him in passing.

I bet you were a pretty decent guy.

I didn’t know for sure, but I was certain of it.

That was why. Maybe you’d only said it to comfort me, but I wanted to believe you. And part of me wanted to prove you right. If I really had been a decent guy in the past…

The Skeleton King slowly tilted his head. His gaze left the empty space and settled on me.

Then perhaps I could sacrifice myself for someone else… for a friend.

……!

Yes, that’s right, you damn crafty human.

A faint smile touched the Skeleton King’s lips.

You were the first friend this body made after coming into this world.

For a moment, I couldn’t speak.

I had to say something. I should have, but not a single word came to mind.

So I just smiled.

I smiled silently at first, then let out a few quiet chuckles before I couldn’t hold back any longer and burst out laughing.

Loud enough for everyone across the enormous round table to hear. Loud enough to draw hundreds of pairs of eyes toward us.

Then I looked at the Skeleton King, who was blinking in surprise, and said, “You only figured out something that simple now, you dumbass?”

C-Could you keep your voice down?

“Just say it out loud. Stop whispering so no one else can hear.”

What the—

“It’s too late anyway. Can’t you see everyone’s already staring?”

The Skeleton King looked around, then muttered in a half-resigned voice.

“Madman.”

“What, madman? You finished?”

“I’m not finished. You attention-seeking bastard.”

“Listen to the way this guy talks. Team Leader Choi, aren’t you going to manage him?”

“Manage… what?”

Suddenly singled out, Team Leader Choi clenched his teeth, looking as if grim reality had just hit him.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m sorry. This is all my fault for failing to manage Jin Taekyung.”

“Come on, Team Leader. You’re going to hurt my feelings if you pile on, too.”

“I’m the one whose feelings are hurt. If things had gone according to plan, in a little while… No, why even make a plan if you’re going to do this?”

Fair enough.

But what could I do? Things had gone this way.

People’s affairs often took turns no one could predict. Just like right now.

Even so, I wasn’t the least bit uneasy about having done things out of order.

Yeah. That was good enough for me.

I burst out laughing again, then put on a deep, serious voice as I addressed Team Leader Choi.

“Team Leader Choi, haven’t you heard the saying, ‘It doesn’t matter how you get there as long as you get to Seoul’?”

“I don’t want to hear it. And we’re already in Seoul.”

“Come on, say it with me. Heave. Ho. Heave. Ho.”

“To hell with heaving and ho-ing. I think we’re royally fucked.”

“You’re acting all stubborn because you’re sulking, aren’t you? This was going to happen anyway.”

“The order is wrong! The order! Do you put the ramen in before the water boils?”

“No. Today I’m crushing it up and eating it without boiling it.”

“You motherfucking—!”

The man who could make Team Leader Choi swear like that.

That was me.

Just as Team Leader Choi’s eyes rolled back and he was about to spring to his feet, two enormous hands shot out from behind him and grabbed him.

Grab!

“Hey, Choi! Calm down!”

“Let go! You hear me? Get your hands off me right now!”

“Please, get a grip! I think Jin made a mistake, too, but… Wait. Have you been bulking up lately?”

This was a mess beyond all messes.

Seeing my chance, I gave Magic Johnson a thumbs-up as he felt Team Leader Choi’s lean muscles, then stood and looked around.

Open mouths. Faces asking what the hell was going on. Eyes gone unfocused.

A commotion had erupted out of nowhere at this important meeting to elect the World Hunter Federation’s representative as humanity faced a crisis. Everyone looked as if they’d just seen Demon King Asmodeus brought back with Edo Tensei¹.

Except for the few who already knew what was going on.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I wasn’t planning to spring this on you yet.”

It was a sincere, polite apology. But sometimes sincerity just didn’t get through.

“You damn bastard. This might be the last cigar of my life.”

Chuck Hagel pretended to answer with the bleak resignation of a terminal lung cancer patient, all while puffing on his cigar twice as fast.

“It’s okay. I trust you. But go fuck yourself, Jin.”

Faye Chen gave me a warm smile and raised her middle finger.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I trusted that lunatic and made a rash choice…”

Prince Felix, third in line to the British throne, muttered with a look of regret.

But if I had to name the most bewildered person among the three hundred gathered here, it would be Michael Silbert.

What on earth… are you up to?

His voice crossed the space between us and reached my ear.

His face was stiffer than I’d ever seen it. I couldn’t help laughing.

You’re laughing?

It was only natural to answer someone who was curious.

I opened my mouth without a care.

“Yeah, I laughed. What are you going to do about it?”

You…!

The voice in my ear cut off. By now, everyone in the room was following my gaze, looking back and forth between Michael Silbert and me.

“If you have something to say, say it out loud so everyone can hear. You’re too old to be whispering in my ear.”

That sounded a little rude, so I shyly added one more thing.

“You motherfucker.”

“……!”

“……!”

The room went silent, as if hundreds of nuclear missiles had swept through it. The air around us froze.

But unlike the others watching this unbelievable scene, I welcomed that cold air. It felt as if something blocking my throat and chest had finally cleared.

I can finally breathe.

How long had it been since I’d felt this relieved?

I took a deep breath and started trudging along. I passed between the round tables, then got tired of even that after a few steps and leaped over everyone’s heads.

Whoosh. Tap.

I landed lightly in the empty center of the round table.

Michael Silbert clenched his teeth. He stood there unable to set foot in that space, as though an invisible wall held him back.

“What… is this insolence?”

His voice was tightly restrained.

His eyes, fixed on me, held anger he couldn’t hide. And I knew exactly why.

“What, you spent half your life wishing for that seat, and now some nobody gets there before you? That piss you off?”

“……!”

“Honestly, I understand. Something similar happened to me once. I’d saved some ice cream to eat after my bath, but when I came out, my little sister had eaten it all and left me the wrapper. I was pretty pissed. But…”

I trailed off, watching Michael Silbert’s rigid face, then continued slowly.

“Then I suddenly thought, what am I getting so mad about over something this trivial? Is it really worth throwing a fit over?”

I looked around. Just as I’d expected, most people were staring at me like I was crazy.

Naturally. I’d caused a scene at the most important moment, hurled curses at a Senior, and now I was telling an ice cream story nobody had asked for.

Their expressions were so funny that I laughed again.

“Anyway, that’s all.”

At the same time, I drew up my internal energy and stamped my foot down hard.

“Don’t—!”

Crack! Crunch!

Michael Silbert’s belated shout vanished beneath the roar.

In the split second when nobody could stop me, I completely crushed the center of the round table, a place set aside for just one man. Then I looked at the faces staring at me in shock.

“After thinking about it, I realized that seat was just like that ice cream. If nobody was greedy, there’d be nothing to get angry about. But the greedy ones always step forward and cause trouble.”

Of course, the difference between ice cream and the World Hunter Federation was beyond comparison.

Their importance in this world. And… the scale of what that greed had caused.

People had died because of that greed.

Hundreds of thousands of people had lost their families and friends, their homes and their hopes.

After paying such a high price, all they’d gained was despair and fear.

So what made that seat any different from the ice cream?

It was ridiculous. And it left me feeling hollow.

I spoke to the hundreds of people staring at me in shock.

“Everyone, listen.”

No. I was speaking to Michael Silbert.

“The Stone-King is a monster.”

That one casually tossed-out line swallowed everyone whole and exploded.