Chapter 779

For a moment, the world seemed to stop.

If not for the camera flashes blinking at regular intervals and the ticking of second hands, people might have thought time really had frozen.

But the silence didn’t last long.

“He’s crazy.”

The words came from somewhere in the room.

Countless others looked back and forth between Jin Taekyung and the Stone-King, laughing in disbelief.

They couldn’t help it. Everyone here knew who the Stone-King was.

No—ask anyone on the street, and they’d know, too.

An S-rank Hunter with United States citizenship who had appeared out of nowhere like a comet.

As skilled as he was handsome, he was always at Jin Taekyung’s side. That had drawn attention from the start, and he’d distinguished himself in several major incidents.

He’d faced criticism alongside Jin for taking part in the operation against the terrorists in the so-called “vigilante incident.” But most agreed that his contributions far outweighed anything held against him.

And now the Stone-King—a young hero of the new generation who had even earned a seat at the round table—was a monster?

Instead of confusion, disbelieving laughter spread through the room.

“Enough with the nonsense.”

Speaking up once was hard. After that, it got easier.

Those who had held their tongues out of respect for Jin Taekyung’s strength and standing began to raise their voices.

“Young man, we’ve let you go on long enough. Aren’t you taking this too far?”

“Jin, I respect you as a fellow Hunter, but… you owe us a proper explanation for what you’ve done here today.”

“They said he had post-traumatic stress disorder. Looks like it was true.”

The fuse was burning down fast.

Even the elders who had looked favorably on Jin from the start murmured uneasily. Those who had already opposed him seized their chance and criticized him outright.

“Everyone, look at what he’s done. He caused a disturbance while we were electing the leader of the Federation that will save humanity. He even damaged the round table.”

“And now he’s spouting nonsense.”

“What kind of disrespect is this?”

Criticism poured in from every direction.

But Jin Taekyung, at the center of it all, addressed the room as though he hadn’t heard a word.

Once again.

Without changing a single word.

“The Stone-King is a monster.”

“That’s all you have to say? The same nonsense again?”

“He’s crazy. Completely crazy.”

Jin Taekyung slowly looked around.

Some laughed in disbelief. Some frowned. Others watched with grave, steady eyes.

Their reactions varied, but the words that came from Jin Taekyung’s mouth did not.

“The Stone-King is a monster.”

“What is this—!”

“Strip him of his qualifications at once!”

The criticism had become shouting. Jin paid it no mind and opened his mouth again.

“The Stone-King is…”

As if those were the only words he knew. As if imprinting that one fact on their minds were his sole purpose in life.

Without pause, ignoring every gaze and every accusation pouring toward him.

Calmly, he repeated the truth that might become his greatest weakness, looking straight at Michael Silbert—the one man who had remained silent through the uproar around the enormous round table.

“A monster.”

For the third time.

The mocking smiles faded as people watched him repeat the words like a machine.

The shouts stopped. So did the pointing fingers. No one moved or spoke.

Silence settled over the room.

And in that silence, too complete for even the sound of someone swallowing, a realization came to them.

Jin Taekyung was telling the truth.

His expression. His voice. His eyes. Nothing about him suggested a lie.

And they understood what that meant.

…No way.

The same impossible question crossed everyone’s mind.

At the same time, hundreds of pairs of eyes turned toward one person.

No—toward something that might not be a person at all.

The Stone-King.

The handsome American was still sitting where he had been all along. But they could see it. They could feel it.

The slight trembling of his eyes and the faint fear seeping through them. The certainty that this was the answer to their question.

Then the truth they had finally accepted came with an enormous unseen shock that swept through the room like a wave.

No. Like a hammer.

“……!”

“……!”

Everyone stared, mouths agape.

What was reflected now in roughly three hundred pairs of wide-open eyes was neither a handsome young man nor an S-rank Hunter with outstanding skills and Fame.

There stood a cursed being who could never coexist with humanity, one who had once driven mankind to the brink of disaster.

“…A monster.”

Someone’s mutter, almost a groan, broke the silence.

Clang, clang, clang!

Hundreds of weapons flashed beneath the lights of the vast hall.

The radiance of Aura—the power God had given humanity—spread in every direction before turning toward a single being.

With it came killing intent so palpable it seemed one could touch it.

Ssssss.

A wind whipped up from somewhere. In the freezing air, countless needle-sharp gazes pierced the Stone-King.

Everyone here had been chosen by God for the sole purpose of fighting monsters, and given the name Hunter by humanity.

From the beginning, they had had only one duty.

Kill monsters.

Whoooosh.

Hundreds of surging powers and killing intent joined, pressing down on the hall and bearing toward their target—

“Stop!”

Bang!

The shout roared like a wild beast. Its deep resonance found a gap in that split second and scattered everything like mist.

The faces of the people who had been ready to swing their weapons went rigid.

What the hell…

A place awash in killing intent and mana was as good as a death trap.

But the voice’s owner had broken that flow. At the very last moment, just as an attack was about to be unleashed, he had slipped through an invisible gap.

And he’d done it with ease.

Step. Step.

The low thud of footsteps broke the suffocating silence.

As one young man cut through the mountain of sabers and forest of swords formed by countless weapons and stood in front of everyone, an elder Hunter with a full head of white hair spoke with a stern expression.

“What are you doing?”

Recognizing the elder, Jin Taekyung answered respectfully.

“I’m doing what I have to do, Senior.”

“And what you have to do is… protect that monster?”

“I do.”

At Jin’s unhesitating reply, the elder Hunter asked with an expression of disbelief.

“Why?”

“Because he’s my friend.”

“…Your friend?”

“He’s also a comrade-in-arms who saved my life. I have to protect him, just as he protected me.”

Friend? Comrade-in-arms?

No one had imagined hearing those words used for a monster. While they struggled to respond, a voice rose from the encirclement that had formed around Jin.

“If you’re going that far, there’s no need to hear anything more.”

A shining suit of full armor. A massive war hammer in his hand.

The middle-aged man stepped forward, radiating a weighty aura and an oppressive presence. His eyes were on Jin Taekyung, but he addressed the whole room.

“This is treason against humanity. An unforgivable betrayal. You know the punishment, don’t you?”

Jin Taekyung nodded.

“Of course.”

“Good. Then, as of this moment, your Hunter qualifications are revoked. The traitor will be executed on the spot.”

Rumble.

A dense glow gathered in layers around the war hammer.

He was an S-rank Hunter who had fought since the Great Cataclysm, a man who had made the Kronos Guild one of the world’s top ten Guilds.

But Jin Taekyung’s response went far beyond anything the onlookers expected.

“Fuck, don’t be so damn ridiculous.”

“What?”

“That speech was so long-winded I couldn’t even follow every stupid point. But first, I want to ask you one thing.”

Jin Taekyung fixed a cold gaze on the Guild Master of the Kronos Guild.

“If you were going to throw this kind of fit, why did you treat me like a lunatic just now?”

“That’s…”

“That’s what?”

The Guild Master of the Kronos Guild fell silent.

So did everyone else who had heard the question.

Jin had struck a nerve.

They’d dismissed his words as nonsense from the start. Through all their criticism, he had quietly told them the same thing three times.

Until the smiles vanished. Until they realized it was true.

But why hadn’t they believed him, when he’d meant every word?

The answer was simple.

Perhaps it was a truth they had known all along and could only pretend not to see.

“Let’s be honest. Now that you know the truth, you don’t want to accept it. That the guy sitting over there—a monster, of all things—has fought harder for humanity than some of the assholes here who have no business being at this table.”

“……!”

“Though I get it, too. Who’d believe the Stone-King was a monster just because I said so? Right?”

No one answered. Jin Taekyung smiled.

“This is a black comedy if I’ve ever seen one. There are assholes everywhere who aren’t even human, but the guy who nearly worked himself to death trying to save one more person is standing at death’s door the moment his identity comes out.”

Cold flames flickered in the young man’s eyes, visible above his raised smile.

Countless weapons surrounded them. As he looked at that forest of blades, poised to come flying at any moment, the emotion rising inside him had a name: anger and bitterness.

“I didn’t want this. I wasn’t asking for much. I just… thought you’d give me enough time to explain.”

Jin Taekyung’s voice sounded hollow.

Of course he understood. Many of them must have lost people close to them to monsters.

He had, too.

But… even so, something churned inside him.

He felt sorry for the Skeleton King, who had fought while sacrificing himself for humanity. He felt bitter watching those people try to kill him without a moment’s hesitation, and his anger rose when he realized how many of them still showed outright hostility, even in this situation.

Because he knew their hostility wasn’t only about his calling the Skeleton King—a monster—his friend and comrade-in-arms.

He knew where that hostility was aimed, what it was meant to accomplish, and who stood behind those people, using them like puppets.

Step.

Jin Taekyung started forward.

The Guild Master of the Kronos Guild was the first to grasp what the movement meant. He moved to swing his war hammer like a bolt of lightning.

Or he would have, if a voice hadn’t reached his ear.

“You’d better stop there, Fabian.”

Rumble.

The air trembled.

The Guild Master of the Kronos Guild turned toward the towering Black man who had risen from his seat. His expression hardened.

“Johnson.”

“Been a while. Age has made you even more charming.”

Magic Johnson winked and gestured with his staff toward the war hammer rippling with Aura.

“Whoa. Don’t do anything rash. Take it from a comrade-in-arms who’s risked his life fighting beside you.”

“Do you know what your actions mean right now?”

“Of course. You don’t have to tell me. We know exactly where we’re going from here.”

“…We?”

Fabian repeated the word without thinking. Then he saw the answer for himself.

Rustle. Thud.

People rose from their seats—some quietly, some noisily, some with an air of dignity.

The Guild Master of the Kronos Guild’s gaze darkened as he took in those familiar, distinguished faces.

Magic Johnson. Chuck Hagel. Faye Chen. Prince Felix.

And then Choi Minwoo, whose symbolic significance as Cheon Taemin’s only blood relative was unmistakable. Finally, even the Stone-King, who had been watching the weapons aimed at him with a hard expression, stood up.

This is bad. It’s already beyond the range Michael predicted.

But the greatest surprise was the young man who had reached him.

“Move.”

“I can’t—”

“I said move.”

“……!”

For the first time in a long while, a chill sank into the Guild Master of the Kronos Guild’s bones.

It came from a young man who hadn’t lived half as long as he had.

Magic Johnson’s warning flashed through his mind. You’d better stop there. Don’t do anything rash.

He understood, too, who that warning had been for.

Step.

By the time he came to his senses, it was already too late. The Guild Master of the Kronos Guild instinctively shifted to the side, and Jin Taekyung walked on as if that were only natural.

Half of the roughly three hundred people surrounding them tried to stop him, then found themselves making way without knowing why. Of those who remained, half merely watched; others closed around Jin as if to escort him.

Amid the frozen air and mounting tension, two men faced each other again at the center of the round table.

Jin Taekyung and Michael Silbert.

Michael Silbert and Jin Taekyung.

Their gazes met and flared—cold yet fiery, fiery yet cold.

A voice rang out clearly enough for everyone to hear.

“Do you know what consequences your actions today, and the truth you’ve revealed, will bring?”

“Hard to say. I guess all kinds of assholes will come after me now.”

Jin Taekyung added calmly, “And the worst of them is standing right in front of me.”

A muscle twitched in Michael Silbert’s cheek.

His composure had begun to falter the moment Jin Taekyung revealed the truth to everyone.

But it was fine. It was fine.

The throne was still there.

Once the vote began, the place where he sat would become the throne.

Jin Taekyung, on the other hand, had no seat left at this round table.

Soon, he would have no place anywhere in the world.

“I can tell you one thing for certain. Now that the Stone-King’s identity has been revealed, I’m afraid the World Hunter Federation’s first vote will be on your permanent expulsion.”

“Really? Why?”

“If he truly was unlike an ordinary monster, and you’d told us immediately, everyone—including me—would have given it careful thought. But it’s too late. You hid a secret this serious. No one can trust you now.”

“Too bad. Go on.”

“Everything will proceed through legal channels. Those involved will be formally charged and put on trial. And if they resist…”

Michael Silbert continued, his voice raised as if to call out to everyone.

“They’ll be executed on the spot.”

A suffocating silence followed.

But the moment he slowly turned his head toward Jin Taekyung, Michael Silbert could hear a thunderous sound echoing through it.

Thump.

His heart dropped.

Thump. Thump-thump.

His heartbeat quickened. Jin Taekyung’s eyes curved like crescents, their gaze piercing the center of his chest like an awl.

What was it? Why was it?

Why was that bastard smiling even in a situation like this?

Why?

“There’s something I want to ask.”

The world seemed to slow.

His pounding heart and trembling pulse filled his ears. Every one of his senses, fixed on Jin Taekyung, caught the words that followed.

“What if you hadn’t colluded with a monster, but…”

Michael Silbert swallowed as Jin’s words trailed off. Then a quiet remark shook his world.

“You were already no different from one? What would happen then?”

“……!”

No—it shook everyone’s world.

With a contemptuous gaze fixed on something neither human nor monster, Jin delivered one final line.

“Has the wound on your neck healed, Michael?”